


Celestial School life

by ScriedRaven



Series: Dangan Alternate [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-06-22 19:37:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 50,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15589230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScriedRaven/pseuds/ScriedRaven
Summary: Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler. A girl who has fought for her position, now trapped in a world where the only way out is to kill. Will she give in to the despair, or will her classmates give her the hope to move forward in life. A new version of Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc, from the perspective of Celestia, with new killers, new victims, and new trials to experience.





	1. Prologue

Bring  
My alarm clock started ringing. I turned over and tried to hit the snooze button, but apparently I had hidden it today. I groaned as I sat up. I looked around to see where I had sat it, before turning it off.  
“Now, why did I set an alarm for today?” I asked myself. I always started my day forcing myself to use my accent, as otherwise I might forget to use it.  
I stepped out of my room, and went to my kitchen to see the reason why setting out on the counter. An open letter addressed to me:

Celestia Ludenberg  
We at Hope’s Peak Academy have heard of your exploits at recent tournaments,  
and would like to offer you the opportunity to be the Ultimate Gambler in our   
next semester. Included with this letter is an orientation  
guide. We wish to see you soon.

Normally an offer like this would be meaningless to me, however, graduation from this particular academy came with a guarantee for success. With that, I may just be able to fulfill my dream, and get far away from here. It also gave me an opportunity to graduate from the academy that someone I hated was expelled from, which will prove that I am better than him. With that reminder of what I was doing, I set my tea kettle to boil, and started to get ready.  
I got dressed in one of my more comfortable outfits, a black tiered skirt, and a white blouse with my red tie, with an intricate butterfly pattern. Next I put on a black jacket with a lace underlay, and pulled on some black stockings. I looked through my closet to see what shoes I had not already sent off to the academy. There was a pair of brown loafers, or red high heels, and the heels much better suited what Celestia.  
I walked into the bathroom to start to work on my face. I used my makeup to make my skin appear as white as porcelain. I considered using contacts to hide my red eye color, but I decided it would be easier to answer any questions day one, rather than have to use those lenses constantly.  
I fixed my short hair into shape, then took my black twin drill extensions, and clipped them onto my hair. As much as I wanted to grow my hair out that long naturally, it simply was not feasible to constantly fix my naturally straight hair into those curls. I used a lace bonnet to hide where the clips lay.  
Finally, I took out my jewelry, first two golden earrings that I had one in a recent tournament. I took great pride in the times I was able to force others to bet personal belongings alongside their cash. The other piece was an armored ring. I had had if for as long as I could remember, and as much as I wanted to destroy it like everything else from back then, I could never bring myself to, as it had various uses for such a simple item. I reluctantly slid it onto my right index finger.  
I returned to the kitchen to fix my tea, I was going to be late, but that was okay, they could wait for me.  
As soon as the grandfather clock struck 8:00, the world began to warp and spin, until suddenly it all went black.

I woke up suddenly in a strange classroom. I knew I didn’t leave my apartment, so how could I have gotten here? Next to me was a pamphlet that read “Orientation Guide”. I’d read the one that came with my invitation, and I didn’t need a reminder.  
I first made sure to check that my hair was still properly fashioned, and that the desk had not heavily wrinkled my skirt. Next, I turned to see what was around me.  
It looked like a normal classroom, with desks facing a chalkboard, cork-boards for other notices, and a monitor that looked like it was used for class announcements. There was a camera in the room, although that was not entirely unexpected in a school. The only real oddity was that a metal plate covered everywhere a window would normally have been. I walked over and hit it, and it reverberated like solid metal.  
Since I was still a little dazed from whatever had happened to me, I went ahead and walked out of the classroom, and went to the entrance hall of the school, where I hoped to find some answers. I didn’t pass anyone in the hallways, and from what I could see, there was no natural light in the building either, with the lights giving off an unnatural red tint. The further I walked, the faster I went, hoping for a way out.  
I opened the door to the entrance hall, which was just as devoid of life as the halls, however the lighting gave off a more natural feeling, which was somewhat comforting. What was not comforting was the large vault door where the entrance to the building would normally be. I walked over to it, and put my hand on it. I pulled my hand back whenever I felt the layers of dust on it. Whatever this door was, it hadn’t been cleaned in a very long time.  
“What is this place?” came a voice from behind me. I turned around to see a disheveled man who looked to be in his 20’s, with wild hair. “Hey, lady, are you supposed to be a teacher or somethin’?”  
I looked around to see if there was anyone else around who I had missed, but it appeared that he was referring to me. “How would I be your teacher?” I asked indignantly, “You are the one who looks too old to be in high school.”  
“I may have been held back a couple times,” he said, “but you’re like, dressed really fancy.”  
“Some of us,” I tried to hide my sneer at his outfit, “like to give off good impressions.”  
“Whatever,” he shrugged, “hey, so if you aren’t a teacher, who are you.”  
I didn’t glare at him, even though I wanted to. “I am Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler. You may call me Celestia if you wish.” As much as I didn’t want to interact with this guy, I would have to introduce myself at some point. “I was supposed to start class at Hope’s Peak Academy today, do you have any idea where we are?”  
“Well, from what I’ve seen this looks like Hope’s Peak entrance hall, but I only saw it for a moment before I blacked out.” He scratched the back of his head, as if trying to find a bump.  
“You blacked out?” I said in surprise, “I had a similar experience myself this morning. Whenever I awoke, I was just, in a classroom.”  
“Hellllooo!” An obnoxious voice sounded from just outside the door, “is anyone in there?” In strode the very picture of a model, yet for some reason I found her absolutely terrifying.  
“Oh there you are,” she smiled what should have been a pleasant smile, but it filled me with dread, “I have been looking all over the place, but I couldn’t find anyone.”  
“Hey there,” the obnoxious man slid up next to her, “I’m Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant, would you like me to read your future?” He looked as if he was trying to flirt with her, but the look of disgust on her face showed that she hated him almost as much as I did.  
“So that is your name,” I said, dragging attention away from him, “luckily you have already made me dislike you, otherwise I might have had to change my stance on that name.”  
“What? Hagakure is a great name!” He looked pleased at himself, and bringing him down would make me feel marginally better.  
“I meant Yasuhiro,” I said bitterly, “every person I have ever met with that name has been a loser, luckily for me, you continue that trend.” The shock on his face at my hatred of such things was very satisfying. I turned to face the newcomer, as much as I didn’t want to. “I am Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”  
“I’m Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Fashions,” she wore a smile that said she was proud to be able to wear that name, and from what I had heard, she deserved it.  
“I think I recognize you,” I said, “you are on the cover of many different magazines.” That was true, but somehow her face did not exactly line up with what I’ve seen. I don’t remember her looking nearly as freckled on the covers.  
“In, on whatever,” she looked dismissive of the praise, “they use so much photo-shop these days that I don’t even care anymore.” That would explain any differences from her photos. “Do either of you have your phones? It looks like they took mine, but I could’ve dropped it.”   
Hagakure quickly went through his pockets, “Aww man, I had so much stuff on that.”  
“So,” came a haughty voice, “it would appear I am not the first one to awaken.” The man who stepped through the door had a look of disdain upon his face. After looking around at us, he said “Since you appear to be the types who would need to look up this information, I am Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny.”  
“I have heard of you, I just did not expect to see the heir to the Togami corporation here,” I said as if he had not just insulted me. The heir to the Togami Corporation had a reputation even among the groups I operated in.  
“Before any of you bother to introduce yourselves I already know who you are,” he had a smug smile on his face, “I made sure to know the names and faces of my classmates before I came here.” He said that as if any of us were complete unknowns. I knew that every year there were a few students who weren’t commonly known, but the three of us each had our own followings.  
“So?” Enoshima had annoyed look on her face, “Do you know anything about where we are Mr. Ultimate Affluent Progeny?”  
“Obviously we are in Hope’s Peak Academy,” he smirked as if that wasn’t the obvious statement, “now, let me take a look at that hatch.” We stepped aside to let him through to check the door.  
After watching him make no progress for a while, I turned around to see that a mountain of muscle had stepped through the door. “Hello,” I tried not to jump back in surprise at how quietly it had entered.  
“I’m sorry for not speaking up sooner, but I didn’t want to intrude,” came a deep, but feminine voice, “I am Sakura Ogami, the Ultimate Martial Artist.”  
“Wait,” paused Hagakure, “I thought that was the name of the World’s Strongest Man.”  
“I am often called the World’s Strongest Human, but that title belongs to someone else.” She said unflinching.  
“Oh,” I said, “who would that be?”  
“No one you would have heard of,” she said without offering further explanation.  
We all went around and introduced ourselves in return. Hagakure whispered to me “Don’t expect me to hang out with the Ogre.”  
“Do not act as if I am any sort of confidant,” I returned, “because as you do not expect to be around her, I do not expect to be around you.” He ignored me and kept staring at our classmate.  
A few moments passed before the next person, a rather large man, arrived. “Uhh, hi there,” he stumbled in making a bunch of noise. “I am Hifumi Yamada,” he proudly declared, “but if you want to call me by my title, ‘The Alpha and the Omega!’ I don’t mind.” That name is incredibly pretentious, and this is coming from someone who made up their own name. “I am the Ultimate Fanfic Creator.”  
After everyone returned with their own introductions, Hagakure went over and started talking with him. Whatever got them to stop talking to me was good.  
“Yo,” came a new voice, “any of you know what’s up with the lights?” The person who said this had spiky red hair.  
“No,” replied Togami, “no one here knows anything, now introduce yourself to these people and leave me alone.”  
“Come-on man,” he sighed, “I blacked out, and now I’m here. I don’t know what’s going on.”  
“The same thing happened to each of us,” Ogami replied, “the only thing to do now is wait.”  
“Alright,” his face returned to a smile, “the name’s Leon Kuwata, and I’m the Ultimate Baseball Star!”  
We all introduced ourselves, at which point he looked down, “Aww man, I was really hoping there’d be someone with a musical ability here.”  
“Why?” I asked “Surely music has nothing to do with baseball?”  
“I’m done with baseball,” he yelled, “I’m gonna be a musician. For now, I just need to find more members of my band.”  
“Well,” I returned, “there will probably be some more students who show up, perhaps one of them will be good with music.”  
“Alright,” he said, “I’ll just wait and see.” He looked excited to see who came in next.  
He didn’t have to wait very long before the door opened. The person started to enter whenever Kuwata shouted “Hey, who are you!” they let the door close for a moment, but before we could go check on them, they stepped into the room, revealing a girl with brown pigtails and glasses.  
“Oh, sorry if I scared ya,” Kuwata apologized.  
“NO!” She shouted excitedly, starting to stick her tongue out before pulling it back in, “I mean, just don’t do it again. The names G- I mean, Toko Fukawa, The Ultimate Writing Prodigy.” I had heard of her; her first book had made people mistake fishermen for being attractive. That book came out several years ago, and they were still at the top of the most attractive men polls. While not exactly as romantic as I pictured, she still fit the image of a writer, she must be trying to impress us with how much she’s holding back.  
“Yeah, well, I’m Leon Kuwata, and I was wondering if you’d like to join my band?”  
“A band?” She looked up before quickly looking back down, “I’ve always wanted to join a band.” She walked over to Kuwata and whispered something before backing off.  
“Alright,” He smiled.  
“ACHOO!” She let out a huge sneeze, switching from looking sad but excited, to panicked in an instant. “Who are all of you, why are you looking at me?” She asked.  
“We’re your classmates,” Kuwata smiled, “like I said before I’m Leon Kuwata.” The rest of us went around introducing ourselves, and letting her know what had happened.  
“I suppose I need to say who I am,” she said slowly.  
“Nah,” Kuwata responded, “you told us already.”  
“I did?” she looked completely panicked, “I-I mean, of course I did.” I tried not to look too hard at her, fearing she would pass out. Kuwata avoided looking at her, but he was clearly happy with whatever she had told him.  
“Alright!” A gruff voice shouted, “There’d better be a good explanation for this, otherwise,” the door slammed opened to reveal a tall man in a long black jacket. “Good,” he said upon realizing we were there, “explain this,” he gestured around.  
“Unfortunately,” I tried to look as innocent as possible, “we are just as confused as you are.”  
“Humph, well, someone’s bound to explain this eventually, and when they do,” he slammed his fist into the wall, “I’m gonna show them why they shouldn’t get on the bad side of the Crazy Diamonds.”  
“Crazy Diamonds,” said Hagakure, “like the largest biker gang in Japan?”  
“Yep, and I’m Mondo Owada, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader,” he smiled with pride for his gang, “so, who are all you?” We told him who we were, to which he seemed pleased.  
The door opened once again, revealing a girl wearing purple gloves.  
“Hmm,” she looked to be deep in thought, “did any of you look around the school before you came here?” We all shook our heads no. “Interesting.”  
“Pray tell,” Togami looked over from the door, “who are you?”  
“I thought you knew everyone who was in here,” Enoshima said in mock surprise.  
“No, I only claimed to know who you were,” he said as if it made a difference.  
“I’m Kyoko Kirigiri,” she went around to the corners of the room, analyzing everything to see if it could yield a potential clue.  
After waiting for her to continue, I said, “Pleasure to meet you Kirigiri, may I ask what your talent is?”  
She hesitated a moment before saying, “No, you may not,” and returned to her search of the room. Despite her refusal to tell us anything about herself, I went on to introduce everyone to her. By the time I was done, she had gone over to the vault door.  
“The door won’t open,” Togami said, “I have searched all of it, and nothing works.”  
“All that tells me,” she returned, “is that there is nothing for you to find. I knew it wouldn’t open before I even came in here. So far I have only looked at it and I’ve already learned one important clue.” Togami jumped back in shock that in a matter of seconds she had figured out something that even he hadn’t been able to. “Now if you’ll leave me alone to investigate.” She continued looking at the door, trying to find any new information, while we tried to see what she had worked out so quickly.  
Some time passed, before the door opened once again, revealing a girl with a brown ponytail. “Oh, good,” she smiled, “I was starting to think I was alone here.” She walked over and said “Hi, I’m Aoi Asahina, the Ultimate Swimming Pro.”  
We all returned our introductions, except for Kirigiri who I introduced for her. After that Asahina went over and started talking to Ogami.  
The door burst open revealing a girl with blue hair in a school uniform. She looked around briefly before focusing on Kirigiri. “There you are,” she said excitedly “I called out to you but you didn’t answer.”  
Kirigiri looked up from her investigation, “Because you were about to enter this hall, you were close to meeting everyone.”  
“Yeah,” she crossed her arms, “but you looked like you knew something, so I wanted to speak to you.”  
“Unfortunately I don’t know anything solid yet,” she said without showing any emotion.  
“I thought you found a clue,” Togami smirked.  
“I did,” Kirigiri looked him dead in the eyes, “that does not mean I know something. Just because there is a clue, doesn’t mean it’s important.”  
“Then have you found any important clues?” his expression didn’t change.  
“Maybe,” she said, “but I need to verify that they are true before telling anyone, otherwise we’d just be more confused.”  
“Just as I thought, you don’t know anything.” He was clearly gloating with that.  
“If you must know something conclusive,” she stood and turned to face him, “every room in here is equipped with a camera, meaning our every move is being watched, and whoever put us here plans on constantly watching us.”  
“Well-” Togami started.  
“I wasn’t finished,” she interrupted him, “there is no one else present in the downstairs of this school, and I don’t just mean we can’t find anyone, we all woke up in the same classroom, but we didn’t see anyone else in there at the time. Whoever is behind this is keeping an eye on us, and whenever we leave the classroom, they lock the door and put someone else in there.”  
“How do you know all this?” asked Owada.  
“Because unlike you, I made sure I knew what all was around before I went where they wanted me.” She said. “Now, I believe is the time where you introduce yourself,” Kirigiri said to the blue haired girl, before returning to the vault door.  
“Oh, right,” she shook her head before saying, “I’m Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation.”  
“Sweet,” Kuwata said, “I was hoping to meet someone who knew about music, I’m looking to start a band, and I was wanting some help.”  
“I’m not going to leave my friends to join another band,” she said, “if that’s what you’re asking.”  
“Nah,” he shrugged, “I just need some help getting started.”  
“Uh, hello,” we turned to see that someone else had entered the room, “I’m, Chihiro Fujisaki, the Ultimate Programmer.” It looked to be a young girl, wearing a brown skirt. “Is that what I’m supposed to say?” she asked nervously.  
“Oh, I didn’t notice you come in,” said Asahina, “how much did you hear?”  
“A bit, I don’t really know what was going on,” she said nervously.  
“Do not worry too much,” I said, “we can explain after we introduce ourselves.” After that we went around giving our names and titles to Fujisaki and Maizono, before explaining what we knew.  
We waited a while, before the next person arrived. He wore a white formal school uniform. “Hello there,” he cheered at us, “I am Kiyotaka Ishimaru.”  
I then realized that his eyes were red like mine. “Hello,” I smiled and walked up to him, “Celestia Ludenberg, although you may call me Celestia.”  
“Ah, I haven’t met someone else with red eyes before, I’m sure we can bond over this.” He gave me a large smile.  
“I have heard they are more prevalent among Ultimates,” I said, “but I did not expect to actually have someone else in my class have them.”  
“Ah yes, my Ultimate ability, I forgot to mention that,” he outstretched his hand, “The Ultimate Moral Compass, at your service.”  
“Oh my,” I took his hand, “well as I am the Ultimate Gambler, we may be at odds with each other more often than not.”  
“That may be,” he took his hand back, “but we can still be on good terms can’t we?”  
“I believe so,” I said, “just try not to be too boring.”  
“And you stay out of trouble,” he said, before freezing. I realized it to, we had just said that as if we had said those very words a thousand times, but we had never met before. I don’t normally say things like that to people, and by the look on his face neither does he. “Uhh, who shall I speak to next?” He walked away, unsure of what had just happened, but on his way to meet everyone else.  
The clock struck 8:00, and as we were thinking about whether or not to go look around, we saw a new student enter. He had messy brown hair with one particular strand standing straight up.  
“So counting him, that makes fifteen. Seems like a good cut-off point, but I wonder if this is everyone…” Togami man said. The new one was looking around in awe, as if he did not believe he should be in the same room as everyone here.  
“Um,” he seemed to finally get a hold of himself, “how’s it going? My name’s Makoto Naegi. Sorry I’m latte, a bunch of stuff happened, and then all of a sudden I was just… asleep.”  
“Woah, you too?” Hagakure asked.  
“Things just keep getting curiouser and curiouser…” Naegi was the first to have described his situation as asleep, and seemed to have somewhat accepted that as normal. I had to wonder if this was something he experienced often, or if he had been somewhere where falling asleep while inside the school had made sense.  
“So strange…” Yamada said, “I declare beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a strange situation indeed.”  
“Um…” Naegi seemed unsure of something, “what are you talking about? I honestly have no idea what’s going on right now.”  
“First,” Ishimaru said, “there is something we must address. Naegi! Your tardiness is unacceptable! Surely you were aware the meeting was to start at 8:00 a.m. sharp!”  
“What’s your problem?” Enoshima asked, “It’s not like he wanted to be late. He didn’t have any control over it.”  
“Everyone calm down,” Asahina suggested, “Why don’t we all introduce ourselves so that he knows who we are.”  
“What?” Owada shouted, “Now’s not the time for introductions!”  
“Maybe,” I said, “but it may be good to at least find out who we all are before digging into the bigger problems here. I mean, how are we even supposed to talk to each other if we do not know each other’s names?”  
“Okay,” Maizono cheered, “let’s get introductions out of the way, then we can move on to whatever else. Sound good?” With that we began our last rounds of introductions. After everyone else had spoken to him, he came over to me.  
“I do not think we have been introduced. I am Celestia Ludenberg.” I gave him a pleasant smile.  
“Celestia…Luden…huh?” He said confused.  
“Celestia Ludenberg, but you may call me Celestia.”  
“You are Japanese right?” He seemed to question who I claimed to be.  
“Of course. Why do you ask?” I tried to make it seem like the question he was asking had an obvious answer, so he would stop going on.  
“If you don’t mind… could you tell me your real name?” he actually asked. Very few people realize that the name I use is fake, and even fewer question why. Not one of them ever actually asked me to tell them my real name before.  
“Heh-heh,” I tried to laugh off his question, “I don’t know what you are talking about. Celestia Ludenberg is my real name.” He doesn’t seem to buy it, but he at least he’ll stop questioning it.  
“Oh yeah,” he said after a moment, “I’m Makoto Naegi.”  
“It is a pleasure to meet you, I am known as the Ultimate Gambler.” I smiled pleasantly.  
“I had heard, rumor has it that you cleaned out an underground gambling tournament, earning the name Queen of Liars,” he said.  
“Yes, well,” I said, surprised out how much he knew and yet still questioned me, “it is probably nothing compared to your ability.”  
“Well I don’t really have an ability.” He said nervously.  
“Don’t have one,” I was surprised to hear that, “then why were you invited?” I was genuinely curious at what his story was.  
“They held a lottery, and apparently I won. They gave me the title of Ultimate Luck, but I just got lucky once, it’s not a talent like yours.”  
“Do not doubt yourself,” I said, “luck is not an ability to be discounted. Lives are won, and lost based solely on luck. Everyone here is only here because they were lucky enough to be noticed. However, while we all have something else to draw their attention, you were able to gain it only with luck. You may just have the strongest ability here.”  
“I don’t know,” he still looked nervous, “but thanks for the vote of confidence. See you around Celeste.”  
“My name is Celestia, not Celeste.”  
“Sorry, I’ll try to remember it.” He looked embarrassed that he had already messed up my name. We separated after that. I waited a little while for everyone to finish their conversations and then we got started.  
“Okay,” Togami said, “Time to get down to business, this is no time to stand around making friends like a bunch of dull-eyed baboons.”  
“Oh,” Naegi asked, “you said something about a bigger problem or something? What was that about?”  
“Well, you see,” Maizono started, “you said a bunch of stuff happened, and then you were just asleep right? Well, that’s what happened to all of us.”  
“Just after we got to the main hall,” Kuwata said, “we lost consciousness, and whenever we came to, we were somewhere here in the school! That’s what happened to you, right?”  
“But for every one of us to get knocked out like that,” Naegi started.  
“Exactly,” screamed Owada, “that’s why we’re freaking out!”  
“That is not all,” continued Ishimaru, “you saw all the windows in the classes and halls? They were all covered with metal plates!”  
“Plus all my stuffs missing,” Enoshima said worriedly, “Even my cell-phone.”  
“Yeah,” Said Fujisaki, “I haven’t seen my laptop anywhere.”  
“And then in the main hall, the front exit is completely blocked by some giant hatch,” said Ishimaru “but there wasn’t anything like that when I first got here. What’s it doing here?”  
“Maybe we got caught up in some kinda, like, you know… crime or something?” suggested Enoshima  
“Like a kidnapping?” Kuwata’s expression became nervous, “you think maybe someone grabbed us and hauled us off and we’re not actually at school?”  
“Come on, don’t think like that,” said Hagakure with a grin, “cheer up! It’s probably part of the orientation procedure. Yeah, I’m sure that’s it! So I’m just gonna take it easy for a little bit.” Hagakure went to sit down and lie against the wall.  
“Oh…” smiled Fujisaki, “so you think they wanted to do something to surprise us?”  
“Huh,” Kuwata said, “well if it is naptime for me. I was up way too late last night, so I could use a little shuteye.”  
*DING DONG BING BONG*  
Static filled the monitor in the entrance hall. “Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two!” The voice was grating on my ears, a highly processed voice that didn’t feel natural in the least, but acted as if it was playing. “This is a test of the school broadcast system! Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then…! To all incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony right now! Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience. That’s all. I’ll be waiting!”  
“What the hell was that just now?” Enoshima asked in confusion.  
“Well then, if you’ll excuse me,” Togami left without waiting for anyone else.  
“Hey! What, you’re gonna take off just like that?” Enoshima looked at him in confusion.  
“Ohh yeah, now I get it! This whole thing was just to get us all pumped for the entrance ceremony! Man, thank god it was all a joke. I’d be totally freaked out if this was real!” Hagakure is an idiot. “Alright, guess I’ll head out, too. Wonder what they got planned for us next…”  
“I was totally looking forward to that nap, too. Why’d they have to go and kill the mood?” asked Kuwata. I got the feeling that the reason they had announced that right then was specifically to kill the mood.  
“Wait for me! I wanna go with you!” Fujisaki followed close behind.  
“That is that, then. I will see you all there,” I smiled pleasantly. If everyone was just going to head off, no reason trying to hold them back.  
I walked through the empty halls until I reached the gym. There was an entryway with shelves full of different trophies, and another security camera. I kept walking into the gym, where I saw everyone who left before me waiting. There was a podium facing toward us, with two rows of chairs for us to sit in. We waited a few minutes for everyone to arrive, and that is when it began.  
“Hey there, howdy, hello!” The voice from the monitor returned. I had expected it to sound more natural in person, but somehow that just mad it all the more unnatural. “Is everyone here? Good! Then let’s get things rolling!” Suddenly a stuffed bear came flying out from behind the podium. It’s right half looked normal, just a white teddy bear, with a button eye, and a smile that ended with its snout. It’s left half, while still maintaining the same shape, was anything but normal. The first oddity was that it was a different color than the left, black, and the mouth was a toothy grin that extended to the edge of its face. However, the really strange part was its right eye, a red arc, with jagged lines on the bottom. Just one look at its eye gave me a sense of unease.  
“Huh?” came from a surprised Fujisaki, “A teddy bear?”  
“I’m not a teddy bear!” replied a voice. I was waiting for a person to come crawling out from behind the podium, but the voice continued “I am Monokuma! And I am this school’s headmaster! Nice to meet you all.” The teddy bear suddenly stood up. Whoever was controlling it was clearly trying to put us on edge with its carefree attitude, and judging by our expressions, it was succeeding.  
“Wh-? Waaah! That teddy bear can talk!” screamed Yamada.  
“Calm down!” said Ishimaru “I’m sure there’s just a speaker inside of it.”  
“I told you already,” said the bear with what sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth, which is impressive for something that can’t open its mouth, “I’m not a teddy bear, I am Monokuma!”  
“Waaah! It moved!” Yamada was in a complete state of shock.  
“Seriously man, calm down,” came from surprisingly Owada, “It’s probably just a remote control toy or somethin’.”  
“How dare you compare me to a child’s plaything!” Monokuma tried to look sad, but failed, “you’ve cut me deep. Deeper than the Mariana Trench… My remote control system is so complex, even the folks at NASA can’t recreate or even comprehend it! Ah, but don’t make me say stuff that might destroy NASA’s dreams, I just couldn’t BEAR that!”  
“Bear, that? Really? You are… unfortunate.” Puns are a low form of humor, and I will not tolerate having to be- listen to them.  
“Now then, moving on! We really must hurry and get started…” Monokuma continued.  
“Giving up already?” asked Enoshima, “No other stupid bear puns?”  
“Quiet down now, quiet down. Ah, okay, so…!” Monokuma looked to be upset that we kept interrupting him. “Everyone! Stand at attention… now bow, and good morning!”  
“Good Morning!” Ishimaru followed all of his instructions before returning his greeting.  
“You don’t have to answer him back,” Fukawa objected to him.  
“Now then,” Monokuma ignored her and continued, “let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony! First, let’s talk a bit about what your school life here will be like. Now, ah, make no mistake-you few students, so full of potential, represent the hope of the world. To protect such splendid hope, you will all live a communal life together solely within the confines of this school. Everyone will live in harmony together, and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school. Ah, now then… regarding the end date for this communal life… there isn’t one. In other words, you’ll all be here until the day you die! Such is the school life you’ve been assigned.”  
“Wh-what did he just say?” Fukawa asked, “Until the day we die?”  
“Oh, but fear not! We have quite an abundant budget, so you won’t lack for all the common conveniences.” Monokuma attempted to give off a pleasant vibe.  
“That’s the least of our worries right now!” Maizono exclaimed.  
“What? You’re saying I have to live here forever?” Enoshima’s face went blank, “you’re screwing with us, right?”  
“I am not screwing with you! I am no liar; of that you can be 100% sure.” Monokuma screamed. I have met with countless people who lie constantly, and they are the only people I have had tell me that they don’t lie. Honest people still lie, and will more often than not admit as much. “Ah, and just for your information… you’re completely cut off from the outside world. So you don’t have to worry about that dirty, dirty land beyond these walls ever again!”  
“Cut off?” Naegi said confused, “so all those metal plates all over the school… they’re there to keep us trapped in here?”  
“That’s exactly what they’re there for.” Monokuma replied. “No matter how much you may yell and scream for help, it will not come. So with all of that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandon!”  
“Come on, what the hell is this?” Kuwata asked “I don’t care if the school or whoever else is behind it all, this is just a really bad joke.”  
“Yeah! Cut it out! It isn’t funny anymore!” Owada screamed.  
“You keep saying this is a lie or a joke. A bunch of skeptics, all of you.” Monokuma looked at us, “but I guess you can’t help it, huh? You all grew up in an age where you’re taught to doubt your neighbor. Well, you’ll have plenty of time to figure out whether or not what I say is true. And when that time comes, you’ll see with your own eyes that I speak the undeniable truth.”  
“Having to live here forever would be… quite the problem,” I said, remembering my dream to get away.  
“Come, now. What’s the matter with all of you? You decided of your own free will to attend Hope’s Peak Academy, didn’t you?” Monokuma acts like this hasn’t changed things. “And now, before the entrance ceremony is even finished, you’ve already decided you want to leave? Oh, but you know…. I guess I did forget to mention one thing. There is one way for you to leave the school. As headmaster I’ve crafted a special clause for those of you who would like to leave! I call it…. The graduation clause! Now let me tell you about this fun little rule. As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. If someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my students, is the graduation clause!”  
“What do you mean by “disrupt the harmony”?” growled Togami.  
“Well, you know, if one person were to murder another.” Monokuma said frankly, “stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn’t matter. You must kill someone if you want to leave. It’s as simple as that. The rest is up to you. Give it your all o achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible. Like I said before, you guys are the hope of the world. But you know, taking that hope and seeing it get murdered creates a shadow of despair. And I find that just so exciting!”  
“What are you talking about? To kill each other is…” Kuwata couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.  
“To kill each other is to kill each other. I’m sure there’s a dictionary here somewhere if you need it.” Monokuma acted as if such a simple statement meant that the act would be just as simple.  
“We know what it means, that’s not the problem,” Asahina looked determined, “Why do we have to kill each other?”  
“You guys just don’t get it, do you,” Monokuma did something akin to a sneer at us, “Let us go, let us go!” You keep on saying the same thing over and over. Listen, from this moment onward, this school is your home, your life, your world. Got it? And you can kill as much as you want! So go ahead, go on a killing spree!”  
“Alright, come on,” Hagakure looked up for the first time in a while, “how long are you gonna keep this up? You got us, okay? You scared us, so you can go ahead and reveal the trick now. I mean, this is obviously a trick.”  
“Dude, shut up and get out of my way,” Owada pushed his way past Hagakure, and grabbed Monokuma. “Listen up, this has gone way too far. Let us go before I rip you to shreds!”  
“Waaah!” Screamed Monokuma, “Violence against the headmaster is in violation of school regulations!”  
“Shut up and let us out of here!” Owada screamed. Monokuma stopped struggling, and started beeping.  
“Watch out!” Yelled Kirigiri, “Get rid of it! Throw it!” As if on command, Owada turned and threw the stuffed animal as hard as he could. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, as Monokuma self-destructed. We stood in stunned silence, until we heard an odd sound. We turned to see Monokuma pop back up behind the podium  
“You just tried to kill me!” screamed Owada.  
“Well yes,” Monokuma said, “I was serious about trying to kill you. You did violate one of the school regulations after all. I’ll let you off with a warning this time, but you’d better be careful from now on. Any naughty boy or girl who violates my rules won’t get off with just a little swat on the butt. Just to explain so you don’t try that again, Monokuma’s have been placed all throughout the school, so I have plenty of backups. Plus, the surveillance cameras installed will let me know instantly if you break a rule. If you do, well, we just saw what happened. And I won’t be so forgiving with my punishment next time.”  
“That’s not even punishment,” Asahina said, “that’s just wrong.”  
“Now then lastly… to commemorate your joyous entry into our school, I have a little something for you. This is the official student handbook! Pretty cool, huh? As you can see it’s fully digital so we call it the e-Handbook!” Monokuma looked around at all of our shocked expressions, “Ahem, this handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don’t lose it! When you start it up, it will display your name Always make sure you have the right one! Now this is not your everyday notebook. It has so many more uses than that! And it’s completely waterproof. It can also withstand an impact force of up to ten tons. It contains all of our school regulations, so make sure you review them thoroughly! You’ll hear me say this a lot, but any violation of school regulations will not be tolerated. Rules restrict, yes, but they also protect. Society would fall into utter chaos without laws. The same applies here, which is why it’s crucial we have strict punishments in place for violators. That brings our opening ceremony to a close. Please enjoy your abundantly dreary school life! And see ya!”  
“So how would you define what we just experienced?” Ishimaru asked.  
“I don’t understand this…” came from an unmoving Kuwata.  
“We have to live here forever? Or kill?” Fukawa was holding her head in disbelief.  
“Everyone we need to calm down,” said Kirigiri, “First let’s just take a second to summarize everything we just heard. Based on what Monokuma said, we essentially have two choices. Stay here living a communal life together until the day we die,”  
“If we want to get out of here alive, we have to kill someone. Right?” I finished her thought.  
“But killing someone,” said Fujisaki.  
“We were abducted out of nowhere and stuffed into this place meant to look like a school,” Stuttered Yamada, “and now we’re supposed to start killing each other? This is…”  
“A lie,” said a shocked Ishimaru, “All these ridiculous things we’ve heard… this all has to be fake!”  
“Right now it doesn’t matter what’s real or fake,” Togami said, “What matters is there anyone here who’s seriously considering all this…?” We all looked around at each other, trying to see if anyone looked like they would actually do it. We stood around looking with fear and hatred at all those around us.


	2. Daily Life 1

I could barely stand after that. I looked around trying to gauge who would be the biggest threat, and who would be the most useful tools. Yamada would be an easily manipulated, but he would make it difficult to remain subtle. Hagakure would be easy to pin something on. I would have to find a suitable target, but if it came down to playing Monokuma’s game, I think I could win.  
The largest threat would be Togami, but he will probably take himself out of the equation sooner rather than later. Kirigiri and Enoshima are unknown elements, so I will have to figure them out before I plan any further.  
My mind had started analyzing my opponents, classmates I corrected myself, before I even realized it. I don’t think I have it in me to kill, and even then there are more variables to what’s going on. Whatever this is I doubt whoever is behind this will even keep their word. All the possibilities began to clutter my mind, to the point where I couldn’t even begin sort through them all.  
“So? What are you going to do now?” Kirigiri’s words pierced my mind, “Just stand around glaring at each other?”  
“R-right, she’s right!” Ishimaru said, “Sometimes, even if you’re nervous or afraid, you just have to step forward! To forget such a simple fact… I can’t forgive myself. I’m so ashamed! Please, someone hit me! I can’t forgive myself! Somebody hit me! Punish me!”  
Those words started my mind back up, as Ishimaru would be the perfect target, willing to forego sensibility in order to prove himself. It would be easy to isolate, and kill him. The fact that I could so easily think such a thing startled me into a state of shock. I knew I had been striving to become the type of person who would only look out for herself, but to think about murder so casually, without any emotion in it. Was that really the type of person I had become?  
“It’s probably best to check out the school regulations Monokuma mentioned before doing anything else,” Fujisaki’s voice broke through the fog, probably just because of her proximity.  
“True,” I forced myself to speak before I returned to those thoughts, “if we stumble around with no clue as to what the rules are, something like that might happen again…” I tried to focus, I needed to be functioning within the group, as it was the only way to survive.  
“Fine,” Enoshima grumbled, “let’s hurry up and check out the stupid rules already.”  
I took my student handbook, and booted it up. It opened on a blue screen, featuring Hope’s Peak Academy crest. Then a name appeared on the screen. That name. Whoever made these clearly already knew more about me than I would like them to. The name faded to be replaced with a menu. I clicked on the school regulations icon.  
Rule 1: Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.  
Rule 2: Nighttime is from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution  
Rule 3: Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and be punished accordingly.  
Rule 4: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope’s Peak Academy at your discretion.  
Rule 5: Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.  
Rule 6: Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes blackened will graduate, unless they are discovered.  
Additional school regulations may be added as necessary.  
“This is insane!” screamed Owada, “What kinda rules are these? I’m not gonna let them control me!” Other than the first and sixth regulations, most of the rules would fit perfectly within a school environment.  
“Well then,” I said, “why don’t you wander around the school without a care in the world and see what happens? Personally, I would love to see what happens when someone breaks one of the rules.” My words were harsh, but Owada needed to follow the rules, or else he would die.  
“But if he got punished like before,” Yamada said, “I don’t think there’d be a respawn waiting for him…”  
“I…” Owada said, before starting over, “ever since I was a kid, my older brother pounded this into my head: ‘When a man makes a promise, he has to keep it, even if it kills him.’ I’ve made a ton of promises that I still have to keep, so I can’t afford to die in here!” Owada looked determined to escape at any cost. I had a sudden feeling that this would cause harm in the long run.  
“None of that made sense to me,” I needed to make sure he said this out loud, “but you are saying that you will follow the regulations, is that it?”  
“Uh, well,” he seemed hesitant, “yeah, I guess you’re right.”  
“Hey, um…” Maizono raised her voice, “I have a question, for regulation number six, what do you think it means exactly?”  
“You’re talking about the second half, right?” Naegi said, “Where it says ‘unless they are discovered?’”  
“It’s saying that if you want to graduate,” Togami looked annoyed that he was having to explain this, “you will have to kill someone without anyone finding out it was you.”  
“B-but why?” Fukawa stuttered, “Why do we h-have to do that?”  
“I don’t see any reason to worry about it,” Togami said, “just worry about following the rules as they’ve been explained to us. Frankly, I don’t want to hear anything from someone who waits for others to decide what to do for them.”  
“D-don’t jab at me…” Fukawa said.  
“Well for now, let’s forget all that silly junk about murderers or whatever,” Asahina changed the subject, “Now that we know the rules, let’s start exploring the school!”  
“True,” Ishimaru agreed, “We need to find out where exactly we are. Is there any way out? What about food and supplies?”  
“Alright!” Kuwata cheered, “Okay then, let’s all start looking around!”  
“I’ll be heading out on my own,” Togami turned away.  
“What? Why?” Enoshima looked confused at his suggestion, “That’s a pretty stupid idea, don’t you think?”  
“Someone here might have started thinking about murdering one of us,” Togami explained, “Are you saying we should stand around with them in our midst and make it that much easier for them?”  
“W-wait,” Maizono started, “hold on a second. That would never-”  
“Don’t bother saying it couldn’t happen,” Togami stopped her, “You can’t deny the possibility. That’s why you all seized up with fear when that graduation rule was made clear to you. Am I wrong? So I’m simply doing what’s in my own best interest.” Antagonizing the group is not going to help him, as it will just make him a target in the long run.  
“Hold on!” Owada gripped his knuckles, “I’m not going to let you run off and do whatever you want!”  
“Out of my way,” Togami sneered, “you piece of plankton.”  
“What did you just call me?” Owada made that sound like a threat.  
“An insignificant piece of plankton,” Togami snarled, “now out of my way.”  
“I’m going to knock you out!” Owada screamed.  
“Stop it,” Naegi tried to calm the situation, “we shouldn’t fight!”  
“What did you say?” Owada asked, “You some kinda goody-good? Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? You think you’re my dad or something?”  
“N-no,” Naegi stammered, “I wasn’t-”  
His words were cut off by a punch from Owada. Naegi flew across the room and crumpled into a heap on the floor.  
“Now look what you made me do,” Owada yelled at Togami, as everyone else rushed over to check on Naegi.  
“Well at least we’ll get to see what he meant,” Togami kept his snarl even after what had just happened.  
“He isn’t dead,” Kirigiri said, “but we will need to get him to the dormitories before Monokuma decides to punish him.”  
“Come-on,” sighed Hagakure “these rules were created by a stuffed bear, how bad could the punishments be?”  
“Considering said rules require us to kill someone in order to leave,” I told the fool, “the punishments could be very harsh.”  
“Well, in either case,” Togami interrupted, “we can’t just leave him here. Owada, you and someone else will need to carry him to his dorms. Everyone else should investigate what is going on.” Before anything else could be said Togami turned and left.  
There was a brief pause before Enoshima announced “Fine, I’ll help Owada with Naegi. It’s not like I was going to do much investigating anyways.”  
“Let’s meet back up in the dining hall around 7:00,” Asahina suggested, “it’ll give us plenty of time to investigate, and for N-Nagito? To wake up.”  
“His name is Naegi,” Ogami corrected, “Let’s help Owada and Enoshima carry him to the dorms. We can start our investigation there.”  
“Wait,” called out Yamada, “who is going to tell Naegi where to meet us?”  
“Ugh I’ll take care of that too,” Enoshima said “let’s just get this over with.” With that she, Owada, Ogami, and Asahina carried Naegi to the dorms. After that Ishimaru left on his own, followed by the group of Fujisaki, Hagakure, and Kuwata.  
Kirigiri was about to leave before Maizono pulled her over to the side and gestured me over, “Hey, why don’t we investigate together?”  
“I don’t see how that would be helpful,” Kirigiri said.  
“Yes, we do not seem like we will work well together,” I added.  
“Teams work the best whenever they have different types of people,” Maizono smiled, “besides it’ll be fun.” She then started walking away, apparently having already decided that we would join her.  
“I’m sorry,” Kirigiri didn’t move, “I have specific things to investigate that would only waste your time.”  
Maizono stopped in her tracks, “No way, besides, it’s not like we have any ideas on what to investigate anyways.”  
“Very well,” Kirigiri stepped forward, “we’ll need to start at the dorms.”  
“I guess I have nothing better to do,” I said, “let us go see our new accommodations.” Maizono almost jumped with joy from our response, and we headed off to the dorms.

Kirigiri walked up to the room with her picture on it. She opened it to a fairly empty room with just a bed in it.  
“It appears we will need to decorate them ourselves,” I said, glancing around the bland room, “and of course more of the metal plates are here.”  
“I was hoping we would at least be free from those here,” Maizono gestured to the ever-present camera and monitor, “but I guess we can’t be that lucky.”  
Kirigiri went over to the closet and pulled out a backpack. She meticulously pulled out several items, putting them in a small organized pile, until she finally pulled out a single piece of paper. “I was concerned that whoever was behind this would’ve taken this.”  
“What is it?” Maizono asked.  
“It’s a map of Hope’s Peak Academy first floor,” Kirigiri said, “let’s go see if that’s really where we are.”  
“First,” I interrupted her before she could leave, “we should discuss why you have this.”  
“Is it really that important?” Kirigiri tried to shrug off the question, but I had no intent of letting her getting away without discussing this.  
“Yes, it is,” I said, “something strange has happened and we are left with a person who refuses to tell us anything. While this is odd enough, you also have a map of Hope’s Peak academy, the place we were supposed to be. If you have answers we need to hear them in order to proceed.”  
Kirigiri groaned, “Fine. I don’t have any real information to give, but the reason I have this map is related to the reason I came to this school in the first place. I can’t say much more about myself, or why I’m here, just know that this is all I can say for certain.”  
“That will have to suffice,” I sighed, I would’ve liked more, but Kirigiri wasn’t willing to go any further, and now was not the time to make enemies. “Come on Maizono, we all have a map to verify.”  
“Please,” Maizono smiled, “call me Sayaka. We’re all students here; we shouldn’t have to be so formal. Isn’t that right Kyoko?”  
“I will call you Sayaka if you wish,” Kirigiri conceded, “but please stick to calling me Kirigiri.”  
“OK,” Maizono clapped excitedly, “now how are we going to measure this?”  
“If I have all of my supplies in my room,” I said, “there should be a tape measure.”  
I started toward the door, and Kirigiri grabbed the key to her room before following me out.  
My room looked almost identical to Kirigiris, save for the mannequins I use to store my dresses, and the several suitcases outside of my closet. I was expecting that, as I brought many more bags than I saw in Kirigiris closet. I need to organize those later. I went over to the one where I kept my sewing supplies, and pulled out my fabric tape measure.  
“It isn’t as long as the hallways,” Kirigiri shrugged, “but we can just keep track of how many times we use it.”  
After measuring the lengths in each of our rooms, and down the hallways in the dorms, Maizono stopped and said “It’s because you two seemed like you could figure out what was going on.”  
“What?” Kirigiri stopped in shock, “How did you know what I was thinking?”  
“I’m psychic,” Maizono said blankly before smiling and continuing, “kidding, I just have a really good intuition.”  
“Yes,” I said confused, “that makes sense for why you would invite Kirigiri, but why wouldn’t you ask Togami, or Ishimaru instead of me? They seem to be the kind who would be more useful; I am not really the type to go around searching for breadcrumbs.”  
“You have already been helpful,” Kirigiri said, “having this tape measure will save a lot of time, and is far more accurate than measuring by footsteps.”  
“But having something that is useful,” I corrected her, “is not the same as being helpful.”  
“Well,” Maizono thought for a moment, “you seem to get people. You can see what a person is able to do, and getting them to do it, whether they want to or not. It’s one of the things that makes you the Ultimate Gambler right? Knowing how far too push someone before they give up.”  
I had never really thought of that before, but I have always seemed to be able to get people to bet more money than they normally would, and that might be helpful in getting people to work together. “Why would you need my help with that?” I asked, “You are the Ultimate Pop Idol, you should be able to do that easily.”  
“Groups of people will listen to me,” she said, “but I can’t get them to do anything they wouldn’t normally do. Even if I tried to get Togami to help me, he would’ve just gone off on his own anyways.”  
“Togami would not listen to me,” I returned, “because he thinks I am a threat,” I had seen it on his face previously, sizing up how much of a challenge I would be. I thought for a moment about what might convince him “He’d… He would only listen to someone he did not find threatening, but that he also did not see as weak.”  
“Is there anyone here you do think he’d listen to?” Kirigiri asked.  
“He may actually listen to Sayaka,” I said, “but you’d have to show him you are actually intelligent first, as he probably thinks you are a brainless fool at this point. The only other person he might listen to is Naegi. He is not threatening like Kirigiri and I, but earlier he showed that he would not back down against both Togami and Owada.”  
“Hmm,” Maizono thought for a moment, “that seems right. Wait, earlier you suggested I should have invited Ishimaru. He seemed like he’d yell at us instead of helping us.”  
“He is just used to being treated as an authority,” I said, “and he is currently trying to give the impression that he is our leader. While he is very direct in what he does, if he were to slow down, and pay more attention to what is going on, he would probably see more things that are out of place, right now he can only focus on what is directly in front of him.”  
“So do you think he’ll find anything?” Kirigiri asked.  
“Not today,” I shrugged, “he is going to be rushing around looking for an exit, not looking for specific details of what this building is like.”  
“Why would the building design matter?” Maizono asked.  
“We need to confirm if we really are in Hope’s Peak,” Kirigiri answered.  
“And if the bear insists on going through with what he told us,” I said, “then we are going to need to know what to avoid.” Maizono didn’t look completely satisfied with that, but she accepted it.  
We went into the trash room, to see it blocked off by a metal gate.  
“Hey,” came the all too familiar voice of Monokuma, “you can’t go in there!”  
“Why?” asked Maizono, “Is it dangerous?”  
“It’s off limits to anyone who isn’t the janitor,” he answered.  
“Who is the janitor?” I asked.  
“I don’t have to tell you, if you want to know that,” he let out a little chuckle, “you’ll have to ask them yourselves.”  
“We are allowed back in this area right?” Kirigiri asked.  
“Yes, as long as you don’t try and open the gate you’re fine,” he conceded.  
“You said your piece, now leave us,” I dismissed the bear and he vanished.  
“I guess we can’t measure this room,” Maizono looked down at that.  
“Of course we can, we just need to be creative,” Kirigiri took the tape, and measured out one of the floor tiles. “Each side is a meter, we just need to count out how many tiles there are and that’s how long the room is.”  
“Oh, yeah,” Maizono seemed impressed at this simple deduction. It took us a few tries to get the right number of tiles, although my initial guess from before I started counting was accurate.  
After that we measured the bathrooms, before measuring the hall down to the end, where we stopped at a metal grate, and a locked door.  
“What’s past here?” Maizono asked.  
“According to the map,” Kirigiri looked down to double check it, “on the other side of the door should be a storage room, and those stairs lead to the second floor dorms.”  
“There are more dorms?” I asked in surprise, “do you suspect that is where…” I cut off my statement before it could be overheard by who I was referencing.  
“No,” Kirigiri answered, “I don’t think that… whatever you’re talking about would be up there, more than likely it would be in a completely different area.”  
“I guess,” Maizono looked to agree with her, “anyways what do you suppose we do about measuring the storage room?”  
“The same thing we did with the boy’s bathroom, just measure around it and make sure it fits in place,” Kirigiri answered.  
We went around to the hall in front of the cafeteria, where we continued our measuring. The laundry room was open, and it had a table and some chairs, with a few magazines laying around. There were several washing machines and dryers, although I would not be using any of these, as all of my clothes will have to be washed by hand. I considered who I would be able to convince to do them for me, however I expect that anyone I would be able to convince would properly wash them, so unfortunately I would have to do them myself.  
We left the laundry room, and went out to see that there was also a communal bath, but it was sealed off so we would be unable to take advantage of it.  
We crossed the hall to the dining hall, which had one long table in the center, and eight smaller circular tables, each surrounded by chairs. We measured the room, before heading into the kitchen area, where we saw Asahina, Ogami, and Owada looking around.  
“Aww, no protein powder,” Asahina said.  
“Would that normally be stored in the kitchen?” I asked, uncertain if it would be a helpful suggestion.  
“Oh, hi Celestia!” Asahina turned around to see us behind her. “Maizono and Kirigiri are here to? It’s great to see you.”  
“Have you found anything of interest yet?” Ogami asked.  
“Yes,” Kirigiri answered, “but it’ll be easier to explain it to everyone at once, it’s a complicated story.”  
“That’s good,” Asahina said, “we haven’t been able to find anything at all.”  
“It is not necessarily what you find,” I said, “but what you find out. Was there anything odd you noticed?”  
“Yeah, well the dorms were soundproofed,” Asahina said.  
“Really?” Maizono asked, “I wonder why they would do that?”  
“We can think about that later,” Owada said, “right now we need to keep searching. Now, where else would they store protein powder?”  
“It’s not very likely, but maybe it’d be in the gym,” Kirigiri suggested.  
“They did have some supplies there,” Ogami said, “thank you for the suggestion.”  
“See you around,” Asahina cheered as the three left the room.  
We measured around the room, estimating the sizes of the boxes of food, and all the different cooking supplies.  
“How long do you think this will last for all of us?” Maizono asked.  
“We won’t run out,” Kirigiri said.  
“How do you know?” I was curious as to why she thought that.  
“This is fully stocked,” she said, “and if my current theory is right, there is no way that these would still be full.”  
“Current theory?” I asked “Do you know something?”  
“Not for certain,” she said, “and if I were to tell everyone right now, all they would do is panic. So for now, just try to stay calm.”  
What could she possibly know that would cause a panic? She has many secrets, but I felt like I could trust her to operate within the best interests of the group, unlike others who I felt like I should avoid.  
“Okay then, let us keep looking for clues then,” I said, “perhaps you will be able to find more evidence for your theory.”  
“Hopefully I’ll be able to come up with a better theory,” she responded.  
We left the kitchen, and went to measure the classrooms. We passed Ishimaru, but he rushed off before we could say anything. We continued down the hall until we stopped at a large red door.  
“What do you think it is?” Maizono asked.  
The door gave off an ominous feeling, like whatever was behind there was not going to be pleasant.  
“According to the map, it’s an elevator,” Kirigiri said.  
“I do not know where it would go,” I said, “and I do not want to find out.” I turned away from the door, not wanting to spend any more time looking at it. Maizono quickly joined me, and Kirigiri walked over after a moment.  
We continued measuring down the hall until we arrived at the A/V room. There were sixteen computers in there, and a large projector screen in the room.  
“Hey,” said Kuwata, “how’s it going?”  
“It’s uh,” Maizono paused, “it’s going alright, how’s your search?”  
“These computers don’t have any internet access,” Fujisaki said, “but I’m trying to see if there is anything on them.”  
“Don’t worry if you can’t find anything,” Kirigiri said, “they probably wiped all the information off of the computers.”  
“Yes, but I might be able to piece some of the fragments back together,” Fujisaki said, “it won’t be much, but there might be something.  
We quickly measured the room, before saying our farewells and heading out. We continued down the hall towards the entrance hall. Togami was in there, still trying to figure out what Kirigiri had seen.  
“Dust,” she said suddenly.  
“What?” Togami asked her.  
“The door is covered in dust,” Kirigiri answered, “that is the clue.”  
“What could dust possibly tell me?” He sneered.  
“Think about it,” she said, “why would the door be covered in dust?”  
“Because whoever locked us in here had no interest in maintaining the door,” Togami said, “why would that be important?”  
“There are many things it could mean,” she answered, “and so I can’t say anything for certain, but this is more important than you realize.”  
Togami let out a sigh, before leaving, apparently unsatisfied with her answer. I tried to think what it would mean. The only answer I could come up with was that the door hadn’t been opened for some time, but we had just been locked in here the other day. That might have something to do with what she’s thinking, but I can’t figure it out.  
We measured the room, and down the hallway past the sealed off nurse’s office, bathrooms, a gated off stairwell, and finally headed towards the gym.  
After measuring the gym Maizono said “That’s the last one, so every room matched.”  
“It appears so,” Kirigiri responded, “so this really is Hope’s Peak Academy.”  
“If not,” I said, “someone went to a lot of trouble to make it look like. For now, it is probably for the best to act as if this is Hope’s Peak, until we can find a way out of here.” Truthfully, there was less than a 1% chance that this isn’t Hope’s Peak, but that chance is still higher than for an entire class of students being kidnapped on their way to one of the most prestigious high schools in the country.  
“Come on,” Maizono said “it’s a little before 7:00, lets head back to the dining hall to tell everyone about this.”  
“Thanks,” Kirigiri said, “without your help Sayaka and Celestia, I wouldn’t have had time to have been as thorough as we were.”  
“It is of no concern,” I said, “I would not have been doing anything important without you. This way I was of at least some help investigating.”  
“Besides,” Maizono said, “it was fun. Maybe we can find something to do tomorrow.”  
“Yeah,” Kirigiri sighed, “we can do some things tomorrow.”  
“Great,” Maizono yelled, “now let’s go before they can start without us.”

We walked into the cafeteria, to see that the only people there were Naegi and Enoshima.  
“Oh good,” Maizono said upon seeing Naegi, “you’re awake. I was worried that Owada might have done some lasting damage to you.”  
“Yeah,” Naegi rubbed the back of his head nervously, “well I did just wake up a few minutes ago. Junko filled me in on what happened.”  
“He was really out of it” Enoshima said, “but after this morning, and having been unconscious for several hours I don’t think anyone could’ve done better.”  
“Uhh, by the way,” Naegi stood up nervously, “Maizono do you remember going to Blackroot Junior High?”  
“Please, call me Sayaka,” Maizono said, “anyways yeah, I was in class 4, what about it?”  
“I just wanted to let you know I went there to,” Naegi explained, “I was in class 2, so we never spoke, but I just felt like I should tell you.”  
“That explains it,” Maizono said, “I felt like I’ve seen you before. Oh, didn’t you help guide that crane back to the woods?”  
“Uh yeah,” Naegi looked surprised at her statement, “it wasn’t really that impressive though.”  
“You two can talk about this later,” Kirigiri said, “right now we should talk about what we found.”  
“Huh,” Enoshima asked, “when do you think everyone will show up?”  
“Ishimaru most likely will show up exactly at 7:00,” I said, “Togami may not even show up at all.” I’d estimate a 70% chance he shows up today, decreasing each day until he just stops. “The others will arrive sooner or later.”  
A few minutes later, exactly as the clock struck 7:00, Ishimaru showed up, with Togami close behind him. Everyone else took a few more minutes to appear.  
“Excellent,” Ishimaru declared as soon as the last person entered, “it looks like everyone’s arrived! I move to commence an assembly, posthaste!” Everyone looked around at each other and shrugged.  
“I will start,” said Togami, “I went looking for clues as to who might be behind all this. I found nothing, that is all.” Leave it to someone as self-important as a Togami to find absolutely nothing, and yet demand that everyone else listens to that.  
“Th-that’s all?” Ishimaru asked.  
“Had I found anything,” Togami shrugged, “I would have informed you.”  
“O-of course…” Ishimaru sighed, “understood.” After a brief pause he continued, “I investigated the dormitory area… and there, I made the discovery of the century! There is a room for each and every one of us!” Of course it would only be Ishimaru who could outdo Togami in how pointless the information he gathered is, while trying to make it sound like a reason to listen to him. Following these two will leave us going around in circles.  
“I already knew that…” Asahina sighed, “that was the first thing I checked out.”  
“There’s a nameplate attached to each of the doors,” Enoshima said pointedly, “saying whose room it is. How else do you think we found Naegi’s room earlier?”  
“They were even so kind as to provide us with nametags on our keys…” Ogami said.  
“The rooms seem soundproof,” Asahina said, “me and Fujisaki tested it out…”  
“Even screaming at the top of your lungs,” Fujisaki continued, “you can’t hear anything in the room next door…”  
“They even come with a shower,” Owada said, “although it doesn’t have a lock.”  
“Well the girl’s showers come with one,” Enoshima said, “Oh, and Makoto’s, I just couldn’t seem to get it open.”  
“So that’s not just me,” Naegi said, apparently not questioning why she would have tried to get into his bathroom, “I couldn’t get it open either, I’ll try again later, and see if something is wrong.”  
“Anyway, the hell do they think they’re doing,” Owada yelled “actin’ like we’re actually gonna stay here!”  
“I’d rather have a room than not!” Ishimaru responded at the same volume, “This way, we need not worry about fending for ourselves!”  
“S-sooo…” Fukawa stuttered her words, “is that all you have to share? Doesn’t seem likely… Mr. Honor Student…”  
Ishimaru paused for a moment before announcing “I’ve finished my report! Who’s next?!”  
I gestured to Kirigiri to start talking, she seemed hesitant, but Maizono started speaking for her. “We checked this map,” Kirigiri took the hint and placed the map on the table, “of Hope’s Peak Academy against the design of the building we are in.”  
Everyone’s eyes instantly widened, “Where did you get this map?” Togami demanded of her.  
“I brought it with me,” Kirigiri spoke up for the first time during this meeting, “didn’t any of you think to look into this school before coming here?” Had I a weaker poker face I would’ve shown just as much embarrassment as everyone else did, but I was able to keep my face calm and emotionless. “Anyways this map matches this building exactly, save for a few modifications such as the cameras and the plates covering the windows.”  
“This means,” I continued, “that the building we are currently in is the real Hope’s Peak Academy.”  
“So this really is Hope’s Peak Academy…” Fujisaki said cautiously, “and we weren’t taken somewhere else?”  
“What,” Owada refused to accept the truth, “you’re sayin’ this is the school that fosters elites for the country’s future?”  
“But,” Asahina hesitated, “if this really is Hope’s Peak Academy, why aren’t there any other students here?” We looked around at each other, but no one had any answers.  
After a brief pause Asahina continued “Me, Sakura and Owada looked around the school, thinking there might be some way to communicate with the outside, but we didn’t find anything… Sorry.”  
“After that, we went back to the entrance hall” Owada took over, “we wanted to see if there was any way past that metal door… Me and Ogami together couldn’t make a dent. We threw desks and chairs, but nothin’. That thing’s tough, man, like iron…”  
“That would be because it is iron.” I said. How this guy ended up in the same prestigious academy I did is a mystery.  
“Anyway, doesn’t look like we’ll be bustin that thing down head-on.” He finished.  
“I feel like I could cry, but I’ll be strong…” Asahina’s eyes looked a little watery, “Can’t waste water in a situation like this…”  
“I will continue the report…” Ogami said, “though it has naught to do with contacting the outside, I did find something of slight interest. There are staircases leading up in both the school and dormitory.”  
“But there are shutters in the way, so we can’t go up.” Asahina continued “Couldn’t find a switch or anything, either…”  
“At this point in time, it appears as though we are only permitted to explore the building’s first floor.” Ogami said “Regardless, there remains the possibility of further floors existing above the now inaccessible second, and thus the possibility of there being a way out.”  
“Me, Fujisaki, and Hagakure,” Leon started “checked out the iron plates on the windows. We tried to get one loose, but none of the damn things would budge.”  
“There’s no way out,” Fujisaki cried, “We really are… trapped in here!” She looked like she was about to cry, but no one had anything to say to comfort her.  
After a brief pause, Naegi asked “What about you two, Fukawa and Yamada? Did either of you find anything?”  
“Nobody… thought to invite meee…” Fukawa said “Nobody came up to me… and said, “let’s go!”.” It’s not right… making a pariah out of me! You can’t do that!”  
“What’s your problem?” Enoshima stopped her, “If you wanted to come along, you should’ve, like said something!”  
“Humph… I-I take that back...” Fukawa stuttered “Wh-who would want to be around such a dirty whore?”  
“Dirty whore?” the insult seemed to confuse Enoshima, as if she had never been called something like that before.  
“Women like you…” Fukawa started.  
“Okay,” Naegi stepped in before the conversation could progress any further, “did you find anything Junko?”  
“Yeah,” Enoshima took the way out of the conversation and started talking about what she’d found. “I looked around the kitchen and its stalked with all different types of food, we shouldn’t need to worry about finding things to eat.”  
“But with so many of us,” Yamada asked, “how long will it last?”  
“Oh, it restocks every morning.” Enoshima said.  
“How can you know that for certain?” Asahina seemed very concerned about this.  
“Oh, uh,” Enoshima hesitated before saying, “Monokuma told me. He uh, showed up, said it, then left.”  
“That seems suspicious,” Ogami said, “but we can check for certain in the morning.” Enoshima sighed, as if she had just gotten away with something she shouldn’t have.  
“Oh, come on dudes…” Hagakure started, “enough with all the grim dark talk…” he was still dumb enough to believe this a farce, such is the simple life of a fool.  
“You’re not concerned Hagakure?” Naegi asked, “About… all of this?”  
“Concerned?” Hagakure said confused, “What’s there to be concerned about, dude? This is just more scare tactics put on by the guys’ upstairs, right? If you’re always letting stuff like this get to you, you’ll start puking ectoplasm, dude, true as truth!” The more time I spend around this buffoon, the more I hate him. “Good things come to those who wait, so we just have to wait for the show to end.”  
“Ehehehe!” I laughed; one would have to be as dumb as he is to believe anything that just came out of his mouth.  
“What are you… laughing about?” Fukawa stuttered.  
“I’m just happy to know that some good came of us splitting up and investigating the building,” I said.  
“A-are you even listening?” she asked, “In what universe does that constitute an “investigation”? Nobody found a way out… Nobody knows… who did this to us…”  
“And our “investigation” is what told us that.” I said, “It told us that it is the unimpeachable truth that we are trapped in a sealed building with no means of escape.” Those words, I let them sink in. It was finally starting to hit everyone that we were trapped here. We need to at least start there before we could even begin to start looking for a way to escape.  
“Don’t remind meee…” Fukawa almost screamed. “Wh-what are we supposed to do? We’re trapped here… with no way out…”  
“Simple,” Togami smirked, “If you want to leave, kill someone…” This is not how we should be thinking; we need to work together but he is driving us apart. We need to separate him from the group, or eventually he’ll drive someone to murder.  
“Don’t even joke about that,” Enoshima said indignantly.  
“Guys,” Maizono tried to calm the situation, “take it easy, please! We need to figure out what we’re going to do, but we need to be calm about it…”  
“Anyone got any bright ideas?” Kuwata asked hopefully.  
“Adapt…” I said, “Simply adapt to life here.” We need to wait for an opportunity, sooner or later Monokuma will make a mistake that we can take advantage of, but if we panic, we lose that advantage.  
“You want us to just give up hope…” Fujisaki started tearing up, “and accept that we’re stuck here?” Giving up hope is not the goal, but we need time, and I cannot let Monokuma know what I’m thinking.  
“The inability to adapt…” I said, “is the inability to survive.” I’ve met many people who would’ve done so much better in life if they had adapted a new strategy, but they only ever used one, and it cost them dearly. “It’s not the strong or the clever who survive; it’s those who are capable of change.” The mood was swiftly getting darker, I needed everyone to separate, and think. With our current position we will just keep arguing, I need everyone to have thought through was going on, and then we can accurately talk about our next steps. “With that out on the table, I have a proposal for everyone.”  
“Proposal?” Owada seemed indignant at the word.  
“We are trapped here, which means we must not only spend our days here, but also our nights…” I started “I am sure everyone remembers the rules concerning “nighttime” yes? I suggest we impose another nighttime rule.”  
“Another rule?” Naegi asked.  
“You are forbidden from leaving your room during the nighttime,” I said, “The school rule themselves do not enforce a curfew, but I believe it would be prudent.”  
“And why is that?” Fukawa asked.  
“In our current situation, we are destined to spend our nights here cowering in fear, never able to dispel the thought… that someone might be coming to kill you…” It was a harsh statement, but I had to say it, because everyone was already thinking it.  
“What?” Maizono screamed in fear.  
“We’ll all waste away here, jumping at every bump in the night.”  
“And this curfew would prevent that?” Ogami asked.  
“Unlike the regular school rules, this is not enforceable. It would require everyone’s cooperation.” We need something that we can all work together on, even if it is something as minor as not leaving our rooms at night.  
“I think I’m in” Enoshima paused, she didn’t seem to fully like the idea, but she saw how useful it was, “like the goth chick said,” goth chick? The ultimate fashionista should know the name of this style, “if we don’t establish our own rules, we’re just gonna bring each other down…”  
“As the boys’ representative, I have no objections!” I knew Ishimaru was going to do this, but I really needed some more guys to agree first. Owada and Togami are just going to refuse to listen to him, leaving more chaos.  
“Who put you in charge?” asked Kuwata.  
“Everyone’s in favor then?” I needed to stop this from continuing, or else it would turn into a fight. “Wonderful, in that case I shall make my departure.” We needed to split up, and stepping out now would speed up that process.  
“Huh, where are you going?” Fujisaki asked.  
“It will soon be nighttime,” I turned to leave, “I thought I might take a shower before then. Pleasant dreams.” I turned and left, not giving anyone else a chance to protest.  
As I was walking back I thought about who I would need to talk to. Togami and Owada will refuse to listen to anyone who tries to tell them what to do, but if I can get more people to agree with my suggestions, then they might cooperate. Ishimaru tries to take command of every situation, and I’ll need to convince him to agree, but I need someone passive enough that they’ll let everyone else make their own decisions first. Kuwata is just going to disagree with me on principle, and I refuse to have anything to do with Yamada or Hagakure. Naegi seems open to conversation, not too demanding, and seems to be trying to make friends with Maizono. I’ll need to talk to him tomorrow, but first I need to check out my room.  
I opened the door and started to look around at what all was in my room. I saw a notice saying:  
“An important message from your headmaster Monokuma,  
Room locks have been equipped with an anti-picking mechanism.  
The keys are a bit of a pain to make, so please don’t lose yours.  
Every room comes with a shower, but be aware: water is shut off during the nighttime.  
Only the showers in the girls’ rooms are equipped with a lock.  
Lastly, I have prepared a modest gift for each of you.  
A ladylike sewing kit for my female students, and a masculine tool set for my male students.  
The sewing kits include a pressure-point diagram. A single thrust is all it takes, ladies!  
For the men, I recommend a solid swing to the top of the head.  
Don’t think, feel!  
And let’s all have a killer time!”  
There is no such thing as an anti-picking mechanism. The only things that even resemble them just require a different method of picking, which was significantly easier for those who knew how to get around them. I looked over to my closet, where I could see all of my sewing supplies had been brought here. Whatever Monokuma packaged will be of absolutely no help when it comes to taking care of my outfits. I crumpled up the note and prepared to take a shower. Tomorrow would be a very long day.

*DING DONG BING BONG*  
The alarm woke me up, but before I could try to return to sleep, it continued.  
“Good morning Everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”  
As much as I wished to go back to bed, the sound of that monstrous bears voice made me bolt upright. “Oh well,” I said to myself, “nothing to do, I suspect the others will want to meet up for breakfast.” I took my time getting ready, because one cannot rush style, and then proceeded to the dining hall for breakfast.  
As I walked into the dining hall, I noticed the only one present was Ishimaru. “Hello Ishimaru, did everyone else leave already?” I paused. I didn’t think I had taken that long to get ready.  
“Ah, good morning Celestia,” he stood up with a smile, “please call me Taka, we’re all classmates and we should strive to be as friendly with each other as we can. As for your question,” Taka lowered his head, “I am ashamed to say that no one else has arrived here. They appear to be slacking in their desire for meals.”  
“Well I was hoping to discuss things more thoroughly with the group today,” I said as I started walking towards the kitchen, “but there are also things we need to talk about. If you would wait here while I prepare myself some milk tea, we will need to begin.” Ishimaru retook his seat, waiting for me to return. I made my tea as quickly as possible, before returning.  
“So,” I took a sip of my tea and sat down, “last night I made a suggestion about what to do for the rules, and you spoke on behalf of all the guys.”  
“Yes,” Ishimaru smiled, he was apparently pleased by his actions, “we need a strong leader, and I took the opportunity to step up.”  
“I know how this must sound,” I said, because he was not going to take this well, “but I am going to need you to stop doing that.” Ishimaru’s face turned to annoyance at my words. “I do not disagree that we need a strong leader, but we have to consider certain members of our group will not take kindly to that. Togami and Owada in particular will outright refuse to do anything we tell them to do, unless we can get them to see how it benefits them.”  
“Yes,” Ishimaru sighed, “but….”  
“I was not finished,” I interrupted him, I needed to get through all of this so he would understand, “Kuwata might listen to you, or he might not, but you will need him to accept you as the representative before saying something for him. Yamada will listen to you as a leader, but if he sees other people ignoring what you say, he will probably start following someone else. Naegi will follow the rules as they are agreed to, even if no one else follows them. Now while your…”  
“What about Hagakure?” Ishimaru interrupted.  
“Hagakure is a fool who cannot be trusted to follow even the most basic of instructions,” I snapped at him, “if we placed a list of rules in front of his face he would forget every single one of them by the time it took him to turn around.” I saw the look on Ishimaru’s face, my sudden outburst had scared him. “Ahem, I have met those like him before, it is best to just let them do as they please, because they will not listen anyways.” I regained my composure, and that last statement appeared to have calmed Ishimaru with reasoning, rather than my earlier rage.  
“As I was saying, while your support for something is helpful, if we want people to actually follow it,” I continued on, “we will need people like Sayaka and Naegi to agree, people who everyone respects, and will still allow for people to come to their own conclusions.”  
“I see,” Ishimaru didn’t look entirely convinced, “but we will still need a strong leader, someone to unite everyone.”  
“You can still do that,” I conceded, “but you will need support from others, and unfortunately without additional support you will just make enemies.”  
“I see what you mean,” Ishimaru mused, “but we will need to meet up as a class at some point to discuss things.”  
“Yes,” I took another sip of my tea, “I was expecting everyone to be here this morning to discuss this, but now it will be a bit more difficult. You will need to convince Owada to meet up for breakfast in the mornings, and after that inform all the guys except for Togami and Naegi. I will let the girls and Naegi know, and have Naegi tell Togami.”  
“Are you sure this will work?” Ishimaru asked.  
“If you can get Owada,” I said, “then most everyone will meet up here daily. Fukawa will come if Togami will come, and the only person who has even a chance at convincing him is Naegi.” I stopped and considered, “even then he will likely only come for a few days, but it might be long enough for everyone else to simply view it as habit, rather than a requirement.”  
“Alright then,” Ishimaru stood up, “I will discuss this with everyone as soon as possible. Have a nice breakfast Celestia.”  
“Good luck with Owada,” I responded, “and I will speak with you later Taka.” Ishimaru left the room, intent on speaking with everyone, I just hope he will succeed. I finished off my breakfast before heading out to talk to other people.  
The first person I need to talk to is Naegi, there’s a strong chance he’s with Enoshima. While I don’t know where he’d go, she has is likely in the laundry room because it’s the closest thing to a lounge we have. While the odds aren’t great, with a little bit of luck I should find them there. I stepped out of the dining hall, and was face to face with Hagakure.  
“Ah,” Hagakure said, “morning Celestia.”  
“Yes Hagakure,” I responded, “it is indeed morning.” I have no desire to wish his kind any good, even in a greeting.  
“I was wanting to talk to you…” he started.  
“I am sorry,” I stopped him before this conversation could even begin, “but I have to go, I have some important things to take care of.”  
“Aww, bummer,” he sighed, “I hate having to do stuff.”  
“I am certain you do,” I carefully stepped around him, “I will now take my leave.” I quickly headed to the laundry room before he could attempt to stop me.  
Inside the laundry room I saw Enoshima and Naegi in the middle of a conversation.  
“I’m not entirely sure I need someone aggressive,” Naegi was in the middle of saying.  
“Oh,” I jumped in, “Good morning Naegi, and Enoshima, there is something I want to speak with you two about.”  
“Oh,” Enoshima paused for a moment, as if expecting someone else to speak up, then continued “Good morning Celestia, please call me Junko.”  
“Hi,” Naegi looked somewhat grateful, as if I’d just rescued him from a conversation he didn’t want to be in, “does this have anything to do with what you were speaking about last night? Because I don’t really want to think about things that way.”  
“I understand what you mean,” I knew that people weren’t going to like what I said, but I had to say it, “I only said those things to make sure everyone knew exactly what kind of situation we are in. Even if nothing happens, we need to be prepared for whatever that creature will throw our way, and some people were just refusing to accept facts.” Naegi looked unconvinced, but he was listening.  
“In any case,” I continued, “that is not the part of last night I wanted to speak with you about. Last night when I suggested the curfew, Ishimaru stepped in to accept it on behalf of the guys.”  
“Yeah,” Naegi looked confused, “it was a good idea.”  
“Well, in the future I am going to need you to step up faster than him whenever someone makes a suggestion. Ishimaru will not be able to tell Togami or Owada what to do, but if someone who is less divisive speaks up, they will be more inclined to agree.”  
“Okay,” Naegi seemed to understand the logic, “but why me, why not Maizono, or Junko?”  
“Junko is only less divisive,” I explained, “we saw last night just how fast Fukawa will disagree with her. I will want Maizono to support me as well, but you are probably the only person who Togami and Owada will listen to.”  
“Um,” Naegi hesitated, “okay, I guess. I’ll try to speak up more.”  
“Good,” I put on my most convincing smile, “now I am going to need you to convince Togami to do something. We will need everyone to meet up for breakfast. It’ll give us a consistent meeting time, and a good place to check in to make sure everyone is okay.”  
“I guess I could do that,” Naegi seemed unsure of his ability.  
“Do not worry too much,” I said comfortingly, “I want him to attend the meetings, but attendance is not mandatory, so there is nothing I can hold against him. Good luck.” Naegi took my words, and went off to tell Togami what I wanted.  
“Are you sure Naegi can do it?” Enoshima asked.  
“There is a chance he can do it,” I said, “which is better than anyone else here. The only way for us to survive is to work together, and that includes Togami.”  
I turned to leave, when we suddenly heard “What was that!” echo down the hall. I turned to look at Junko, before we both ran toward the sound.

“Are you trying to tell me what I can and can’t do?” We turned the corner into the main hallway, to see Owada holding Ishimaru up by his shirt collar.  
“Put him down,” Enoshima demanded in a voice that made me want to drop whatever I was holding. Owada set Ishimaru down with a look of surprise, as if even he wasn’t prepared for her to be that demanding. “Now, what is going on here?”  
“He was telling me that he had more rules I needed to follow, so I was about to make sure he would know not to mess with me.” Owada sneered.  
“That wasn’t a rule,” Ishimaru corrected, “I was just letting you know that some of us were going to meet up every morning for breakfast, to make sure that we all saw each other at least one time during the day.”  
“Why would I do that,” the sneer on Odawa’s face hadn’t changed, “are you saying I can’t defend myself? That I need someone like you to protect me?”  
“It was not his suggestion,” I corrected, “it was m…”  
“It was Makoto’s,” Enoshima cut me off, “he wants us all to be friends, so he thought we should all meet up.”  
“Is that so,” Owada looked to calm down a bit, “fine, I’ll be there tomorrow, but no promises about the next day.” Owada left without another word.  
“That did not go as well as I had hoped,” I said, “thank you Junko, we would not have been able to do that without your help.”  
“Don’t mention it,” she said, “like you said, Makoto is less divisive. Any idea he comes up with is bound to make at least some progress,” that last part sounded like she had some prior experience working with him, “and there’s no way Owada was going to listen to any idea you came up with.”  
Fujisaki and Kuwata came running up at just that moment. “Where’d Owada go?” Fujisaki asked nervously.  
“He got scared of Celestia and ran away,” Enoshima said with a smile.  
“No,” Ishimaru corrected, “you were the one who scared him away.”  
“Ugh,” she feigned feeling insulted at that, “why would he run from me?” she gave a sincere smile before continuing, “He just calmed down fast whenever we showed up, he wasn’t scared, anyways he agreed to come to breakfast tomorrow.” She gave a brief pause, “So, are you two gonna be there?”  
“Oh, uh, yeah,” Fujisaki started, “I’ll be there.”  
“If I’m awake,” Kuwata said, “I’m not going to wake myself up for that, and none of you’d better wake me up either.”  
“Okay then,” I would normally try to persuade him, but Monokuma’s morning announcement will guarantee his attendance, “I hope to see you all in the morning, goodbye then.” I started walking, but whenever I was halfway down the hall, Ishimaru grabbed my arm.  
“Why did you let her lie about that?” he asked me.  
“Lie about what? Like she said, it’s far easier for people to listen to Naegi than me.”  
“Not that,” he corrected, “about scaring Owada. That last look over his shoulder wasn’t how he normally looked, he was afraid of her.”  
I hadn’t seen her turn around, but whenever she commanded Owada to do something, I had felt like I had to listen to her, even though she wasn’t taking to me. “You are correct; I had not realized just how terrifying she must have been to someone who she was directing herself at. We will need to be careful around her.”  
“She is hiding something, and I’m going to force her to admit it.” Ishimaru turned.  
“NO! If you force her hand she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her secret,” I stepped in front of him to block his path, “I do not know what she is hiding, but it is dark, and if she can terrify Owada, there is no way she will not be more dangerous than she appears.  
“You’re right, but what can we do?” Ishimaru asked.  
“We watch her, and we wait for her to slip up.” I answered.

Ishimaru and I split up after that, to go speak to everyone else about meeting for breakfast. I headed for the gym, where there was a decent chance of finding Ogami, and Asahina would be there with her. I opened the door to the gym entryway, where I was surprised to see Maizono carrying something wrapped in several newspapers.  
“Hello Sayaka,” I said cheerfully, “Whatever do you have in your hands there?”  
“Oh, it’s the sword from that case over there,” she gestured toward the trophy case, “I need something to defend myself.”  
“I find that rather ill-advised,” I said, “taking a weapon is just going to make you look more suspicious if something does happen.”  
“But what if someone attacks me?” She panicked.  
“If someone can get into your room to attack you,” I said, “then having a weapon in there is only going to guarantee death. Running away is going to be your best option, get to an area where someone else can see you.”  
“You’re right,” Maizono conceded and she sat the wrapped sword back down, “but what do we do now? Is there anything we can do to defend ourselves?”  
“Right now we need to get to know everyone here,” I said, “the closer we are to someone, the harder it will be for them to kill us. To that end, we should all start eating breakfast together starting tomorrow morning.”  
“Really,” Maizono seemed surprised, “you don’t act like you hang out with people all that much.”  
“I don’t,” I said, “however, in this situation we all must adapt. The most important part of adapting to life here is making friends with everyone.”  
“Okay,” Maizono was excited at the prospect, “what are we going to do now?”  
“What?” I was caught unaware by the question.  
“Where should we go now,” Maizono asked, “we are going to start hanging out now, right?”  
“Oh, I have to tell a few more people about our breakfast plans,” I said, Maizono looked upset at that remark, so I quickly thought of something else to say, “but I should be done by noon. You also wanted to invite Kirigiri to visit with us, so how about you tell her about breakfast, while I go tell everyone else I need to talk to.”  
“Okay!” she said with a smile, “Let’s talk later!” She left the room with a skip as she went to speak with Kirigiri.  
I walked into the gym where I saw Ogami and Asahina running laps. Whenever they got near the door I quickly grabbed their attention.  
“Hello!” I said “Ogami, Asahina, can I speak with you two for a moment?”  
Ogami stepped over to me first “Hello, what do you need?”  
“Oh, I just stopped by to let you know that everyone is planning to meet up tomorrow morning, and we would be delighted if you stopped by.”  
“If its anything like last night,” Asahina sighed, “we’d be better off not going.”  
“Oh no,” I put on the smile I would use anytime I tried to go somewhere I wasn’t wanted, “we want to try and make friends with everyone, and spending time together is the first step. We will be here for some time, so we may as well try and get to know each other.”  
“Oh,” Asahina cheered, “then we’ll be there.” She paused for a moment before saying, “Hey, do you want to join us in our jog?”  
“No thank you,” I politely declined, “I am not one for exerting myself. However, I hope you two enjoy the rest of your day.”  
“Oh,” she looked a little disappointed, then cheered up as she said “well maybe you can join us tomorrow, the invitations always open. See ya!” Asahina and Ogami went back to training. I don’t think I can see myself ever spending time doing as much physical exercise as she is, but there is no need for me to tell her that.

I left them to go speak with the last person I needed to, Toko Fukawa. She seemed like the type to stay in her room unless forced, so that’s where I went.  
*Ding Dong*  
“Y-yes?” Fukawa peeked through the crack, to see who had come to speak with her.  
“Hello.” I said with a cheerful grin, “I just wanted to let you know that we are planning on having a breakfast meeting tomorrow morning, and I came to inform you.”  
“Wh-why should I care?” She seemed reluctant to leave, so I had to give her a reason.  
“We will all be there,” the only way she was going to leave is if someone she wanted to see was there, so I had to tell her that, without letting her know that’s what I’m doing, “Ishimaru, Asahina, Naegi, Maizono, Togami, Enoshima,” I said those last three in that specific order, so she’d think of them together, “we want to get to know each other better, and become friends.” I saw it in her expression, the thought of those three growing close got to her.  
“Uhh-uhhh,” she stuttered, trying to figure out a reason not to go, “f-fine, I’ll be there.” She shut the door without a further word.  
I still had some time before lunch, so I went back to my room, and packed all of my stuff from my suitcases into the drawers. As much as I was loath to admit it, I was going to be here for a while.

I walked into the dining hall to find Kirigiri and Sayaka already sitting down at one of the smaller tables waiting on me.  
“Hello,” I said cheerfully, “how are you doing today?”  
“I’m fine,” Kirigiri said flatly, “we just sat down.”  
“I am going to fix myself lunch, feel free to start without me.” That statement was aimed at Maizono, as Kirigiri didn’t look like she was going to wait. I went to the kitchen and fixed myself milk tea and a lunch, and sat down next to them.  
After a moment where no one said anything, I said “So, what do you think about everyone having breakfast together?”  
“It’ll get everyone together,” Kirigiri answered, “so we can also talk about any clues we find during the day, although I doubt we will be able to find any.”  
“Don’t sound so down about it,” a cheery voice echoed through the dining hall, we turned to see Enoshima and Naegi enter, “I mean, we’re sure to find some clues eventually.”  
Kirigiri started to stand up, before Naegi said “Wait, I can pull up another chair, you don’t have to leave just because we showed up.”  
“That’s not it,” Kirigiri answered, “I finished eating, so I was about to head out anyways.”  
“But you said we could hang out today,” Maizono looked sad about that.  
“I did say that, didn’t I?” Kirigiri shrugged, “fine, what should we talk about?”  
“Uhh,” Maizono looked to be at a loss about what to talk about.  
“We can wait on Junko and Naegi to fix their lunch,” I smiled, “they are bound to have something interesting to talk about.”  
“I don’t know about that,” Naegi looked a little nervous because I had just put him on the spot, “but we’d be happy to join you.” He smiled before heading towards the kitchen with Junko.  
We waited in silence for a few minutes, before Naegi and Enoshima returned. After pulling up a chair Naegi asked “So, why did you come to Hope’s Peak?”  
“Why would you ask something like that?” Kirigiri said, and it seemed like she was avoiding the question.  
“Well, it’s something we all have in common,” he said, “so I thought it’d make sense to start there.”  
“Hmm,” Maizono started, “I guess it seemed like a good place to learn more about music.”  
“Really,” I asked, “since you are already a pop idol, I did not think you would need to learn more.”  
“Yeah,” she looked a bit nervous at that, “to be a pop idol you have to constantly be learning new things, and constantly moving forward,” her face started looking panicked, “if you don’t, you’ll be left behind, swept away in a sea of voices.”  
“Is it really that hard,” Naegi asked, “do you not have any fun at all?”  
“Oh no, it’s super fun!” She cheered up briefly, before returning to her nervous look, “But that’s what scares me. The other members of my group are like a family to me, but that makes me wonder, what would happen if the world gets tired of us? Will all of our work be for nothing?” She then cheered up, “but then I remembered if you graduate from Hope’s Peak, your success is guaranteed. So if I graduate from, well here, then we could go on forever.” Her face darkened “or so I thought, until…”  
“It is great to hear about how much you care for your friends,” I cut her off before she could mention our current situation. If even our happiest memories are corrupted by this, we will quickly give into despair. “My reason for being here may not be as emotional, but it still is related to our guaranteed success. My family’s ancestral home and titles were lost some generations ago. I wish to eventually regain them.”  
“Were they really your ancestral home?” Naegi asked doubtfully.  
“Why of course they were,” I smiled. Why did he have to constantly question who I am? I interact with professional liars on a near daily basis, and they don’t begin to question me nearly as much as he does. “And you Junko, why did you decide to come here?”  
“Uhh,” she hesitated, as if she did not want to give out the true reason why she was here, “my sister also came here. She was known as the Ultimate Analyst.”  
“That’s so cool,” Naegi said, “what kind of ability is that.”  
“She can predict what someone will do after having briefly interacted with them,” Junko smiled slightly before saying, “well, almost anyone. I’ve always looked up to her, and coming to the same school as her was going to be fun.” She paused before saying, “What about you Makoto? Why did you come here? It must have been really exciting when you learned your Ultimate Talent.”  
“Not really,” Naegi seemed nervous to talk about this, “I actually wasn’t going to come, as luck isn’t really much of a talent, but the guarantee of success was too good to pass up.”  
“Don’t be so down on luck,” I told him, “it has helped me get through many events that I would not have won otherwise.”  
“Besides,” Kirigiri said, “it’s better than not having a talent at all.”  
“I guess,” he sighed, “by the way, what is your talent, it’s bound to be helpful?”  
Kirigiri looked down, considering if she wanted to tell us, “I can’t remember.”  
“I’m sure you’ll remember it soon,” Naegi said, “but I’m sure whatever your talent is will be way more helpful than mine. That’s probably why you can’t remember it.”  
“I guess,” she seemed unsure, “as for why I’m here, it has something to do with my talent, and why I can’t remember it.”  
“I’m sure we can find it out,” Enoshima said, “if we all work together.”  
“About your sister,” Kirigiri said, “what was her name? I don’t recall hearing of such an ability before.”  
“Ryōko,” Enoshima said, “but it’s not surprising you haven’t heard of her, she keeps a low profile.”  
“Hmm,” Kirigiri said, “I’ll have to keep that in mind.” She looked like she had just learned something very important, but I couldn’t tell why. “In any case, I have some things to look into.”  
“I can help,” Maizono cheered.  
“No,” Kirigiri said, “this is something I need to look into alone.”  
“Let’s do this again tomorrow then,” Enoshima said cheerfully, “this was fun.”  
I finished my meal and stood up. “That sounds delightful, I will definitely be there.” Kirigiri and I left, before heading our separate ways.

After spending some time in my room, I decided to fix myself some tea in the dining hall. While I was pulling out some supplies, Naegi entered.  
“Hello Naegi,” I said cheerfully, “what might you be doing here?”  
“Oh, uh, hi Celeste,” he seemed surprised at my cheerful greeting, “I’m trying to find an exit, do you have any idea where one might be?”  
“My name is Celestia not Celeste,” he looked upset at his mistake, “and I have no interest in menial labor like that,” I said, “especially when we know that even if we found one, it would be just as sealed off as everything else in this school is.”  
“I guess you’re right,” Naegi looked distraught at my words.  
“I am preparing myself some tea, you may join me if you wish,” I don’t normally invite others for tea, but we need to keep our minds occupied without relying on false hope such as an open exit, we need to find a way to defeat Monokuma before we can leave or else we will just end up right back where we started.  
“That sounds nice,” he cheered up a little at that, “uh, how do you normally fix tea?” He looked at the materials like he had never fixed himself tea before.  
I sighed, what had I gotten myself into by trying to be helpful to everyone, “Here, let me show you.” I spent some time showing Naegi how to fix tea.

When we finally sat down Naegi said “Thank you.”  
“Oh, the tea was something I was preparing anyways.”  
“No, uh,” he seemed nervous about something, “for inviting Junko and me to lunch.”  
“What reason would I have to do any different? We are classmates, it would not make sense to exclude each other from a group.”  
“Well Kirigiri doesn’t seem to like me very much, and Sayaka has always seemed like she’s in an entirely different world.”  
“What about Junko?” I asked, “Is she not from the same type of group as Sayaka?”  
“I don’t know what it is, but she seems uncomfortable when talking about fashion, then she does talking about almost anything else. Whenever everyone gets into a large group, she almost seems to pull back, trying to find a shadow to hide in. Even in smaller groups, people seem to back off from her, but I can’t tell why.”  
“She is definitely odd for a fashionista,” I said, not mentioning my fears of her, “oh, and do not worry about Kirigiri, the only reason she spends any amount of time with Sayaka is because Sayaka refuses to take no for an answer, she acts largely the same around anyone.”  
“That makes me feel a little better,” He still looked nervous, so I thought of something to change the subject to.  
“There is something I would like to share with you,” I said.  
“Huh? What is it?”  
“My perfect gambling strategy.”  
“Huh?” He seemed surprised at such a possibility, “is there even such a thing?”  
“Of course there is, whatever the game, you must have a mind for strategy, this will greatly increase your odds of winning. However, the exciting part of gambling is that there is a power that can overcome any strategy. That power is luck.”  
“Really?” He seemed to perk up at that, that no matter how smart someone is, luck could still defeat them.  
“Yes,” I continued, “there are only two types of luck, good and bad, there is no in-between. That luck is built into every human at the moment of conception. Like a computer program. Some call it fate. The bottom line is, luck is life. Do you see what I am saying?”  
“You mean that’s your perfect strategy?”  
“Correct, you see, I was programmed at birth to have good luck when it comes to gambling,” and bad luck for almost everything else, “this is why I have never lost.”  
“Is that all there is to it?” He seemed cautious of my answer, as if he knew it was only partially true. There are other factors, but they all fall prey to luck.  
“You are the ultimate lucky student yes? Does this perhaps exceed my own luck? One day, I hope to put that to the test. Well then, have a nice day.” I smiled and turned to leave before he said.  
“Hey Celeste- I mean, Celestia, go ahead and call me Makoto from now on,” he smiled, “we are trying to be friends right?”  
“Makoto, that sounds good,” I paused for a moment, “go ahead and keep calling me Celeste, I have always wanted for a friend to give me a nickname, and that one sounds good.” I smiled and went back to my room. I was not fond of the name “Celeste”, however it would encourage him to be more open, which will be very helpful.  
When I got back to my room I cleaned up some, until the clock said around 9:00. Even though there was still an hour until nighttime officially began, I took a shower and went to bed. As much as I would normally go to sleep later, I refused to have my schedule controlled by that monstrous teddy bear.

*Ding Dong*  
I woke up to the sound of my doorbell being rung. I wanted to ignore it, but I knew they wouldn’t go away until I answered. I sat up and looked at the clock which said 6:30. As much as I loathe waking up this early, the announcement was not what woke me, so I was in a slightly better mood than I would’ve been, but not by much.  
I opened the door a crack and growled “What do you want?” Whoever was on the other side tried to push it open, but I held it where it was.  
“Ah, Celestia!” came a cheerful voice from the other side of the door, “Since it was your idea to have breakfast together, I thought it would be best if we were there before everyone else.”  
I stopped for a moment and considered how that would affect everyone’s desire to show up. “Fine, Ishimaru,” I growled, “I’ll be there before 7:00, and grab Naegi, some people still think this was his idea.” I slammed the door the rest of the way closed.  
“Ugh, how can anyone be so happy at this ungodly hour?” I said aloud. I took my time to get ready, walking to the entrance of the dining hall a few minutes before 7:00.  
“Hey Celeste,” Naegi said with a smile, “glad to see you made it.”  
“I would have thought you would’ve been happier to be here,” said Ishimaru, “you were the one who suggested it after all.”  
“I said breakfast because it is the only time we could guarantee attendance,” I managed to not growl, “if it was really up to me I would have said dinner. I do not enjoy being awake so early in the morning.”  
I forced myself into a more placid expression before saying anything else. “Makoto,” I said, “how did your conversation with Togami go?”  
“He wasn’t very happy about it,” he said nervously, “but he sounded like he would come, at least for today.”  
“That is good,” I said, “we need everyone here today to establish the idea of breakfast meetings as a group, however I would not expect Fukawa or Togami to show up past tomorrow, as they do not seem to desire to be part of the group.”  
“What-” Ishimaru was cut off by a sudden sound.  
*DING DONG BING BONG*  
Monokuma’s face filled the monitors screen hallway.  
“Good morning Everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”  
“We can continue this discussion later,” I said, “for now, we need to start enjoying ourselves to encourage the others as they arrive.” I stepped into the dining hall, and took a seat at the long table in the center of the room.  
“Who do you think will show up first?” Naegi asked, as he sat down next to me.  
“It is early enough that I do not care,” I said flatly, before standing up, “now if you will excuse me, I am going to fix myself some tea.” I stifled a yawn before walking into the kitchen.  
As I walked back to the table, the door opened revealing Asahina and Ogami ready to start the day. “Hey everyone,” Asahina cheered, “I thought for sure we would be the first ones here.”  
“We wanted to come early,” said Ishimaru, “so we woke up early.”  
“That makes sense,” said Ogami, “as you three did come up with this idea.”  
“Anyways, when are we going to get started?” Asahina looked eagerly towards the kitchen.  
“It would be best if we waited for most everyone to arrive,” I said, “but if you so desire you may get started ahead of the rest of us.” At that Asahina walked towards the kitchen, followed closely by Ogami.  
“Uh, hello,” came a shy voice, “I, uh, hope I’m not late.”  
“Nonsense, Fujisaki” Ishimaru cheered, “you are still plenty early, come take a seat.” He gestured to a seat over near me, but she went and sat a couple seats away from Ishimaru. “So far you are the sixth person to arrive.”  
“So, what are we discussing?” Fujisaki asked, “I didn’t prepare anything because I don’t know what we’re doing.”  
“Do not worry,” I smiled at her, “today we are just having breakfast. We may discuss information in the future, but the main purpose of our meeting is to try and become friends.”  
“Oh, that sounds nice,” she said while averting my gaze.  
“So I guess I won’t be needed after all,” Kirigiri said. She and Maizono had walked in while Fujisaki was sitting down.  
“Oh don’t be like that,” Maizono grabbed her arm before she could turn to leave, “now is the perfect time to get to know everyone.”  
“If it’s not related to finding a way out then it doesn’t matter,” Kirigiri said flatly.  
“How will you know that it is not related,” I glared at her briefly, before switching to a smile, “if you do not at least talk to everyone.” She seemed to want to disagree, but went ahead and sat down at the far end of the table, and Maizono sat next to her. A few minutes later the doors opened again.  
“Yo,” came a gruff voice.  
“Owada,” Ishimaru said, “I’m glad to see you came.”  
“Ugh, if the announcement hadn’t woken me up I wouldn’t have bothered, but it’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.” He sat over by Fujisaki, leaving one open seat between them.  
Ogami and Asahina came back about that time, and sat down on the other side of Fujisaki.  
“Oh, so we can go ahead and eat already?” Owada shouted, “Should’ve told me that sooner.”  
“We are waiting on everyone to arrive,” Ishimaru started, and appeared to be about to start a fight over this, before I interrupted.  
“However you may go ahead and eat if you want, we just want everyone to meet up, there is no need to make this complicated.” I smiled and let him go. I stood up, and moved to a chair over by the end of the table, between Naegi and Ishimaru. “This is one of the things that does not matter,” I whispered to him, “you need to just let him be, and try to get along.”  
“It is rude to start eating while waiting on people,” he tried to counter, but I stopped him.  
“Yes, but when we have this large of a group, including several people reluctant to be here as it is, it will be fine if we let them go ahead.” He seemed to grumble at the suggestion, but he accepted it regardless. I looked up to see that while we were talking, Yamada had taken a seat next to Maizono and across from Asahina.  
“Oh there you are,” said Enoshima as she walked through the door, “you should’ve rung my doorbell whenever you finished getting ready.” She went over and took the seat next to Naegi where I had just been.  
“Do not blame him,” I said, “Taka woke us up early so we could be in here before the morning announcement.”  
“Oh,” the look on her face briefly shifted to panic, then relief, “yeah, there is no way I would’ve gotten out of bed before then, good call on not trying to wake me up.”  
We waited a little while before we heard, “Hey, sorry I’m late, I slept through my alarm!”  
“You have an alarm Kuwata?” Naegi asked.  
“Well, uh,” Kuwata looked down for a moment before saying, “I’m used to people not questioning that excuse honestly, so I hadn’t bothered to think up a new one.” Which was exactly what I had expected someone like him to say.  
While we were talking to Kuwata, Fukawa had snuck in and taken a seat at a different table.  
“Don’t you want to join us, Fukawa?” Naegi offered as courteously as he could muster.  
“N-no, I’m fine,” she said, “I prefer to eat by m-myself.” Naegi didn’t push her any further, as it would only make her feel worse.  
The door slammed open as Hagakure entered. “You are late,” I glared at him.  
“I didn’t oversleep or anything,” he obviously lied, “Nope, I just got lost. I blame the Bermuda Triangle.”  
“Well then,” I did not stop glaring at him, “you need to get better at finding your way, or else you will not be able to be of any assistance.”  
“Uh, I’ll try,” he said. I do not care if he shows up again or not, every person I have ever met with the name Yasuhiro was a fool who could not be relied upon for anything. Hagakure took a seat next to Yamada.  
I waited a few minutes for Togami to show up, but since he didn’t enter, I stood up to declare that we did not need to wait on him any longer, when suddenly.  
“Hello,” Togami walked through the door with a smug smirk on his face.  
“Good morning Togami,” I said with a smile, “we were just about to get started, now everyone who has not already gotten food should go ahead and take care of that.” By this point the only people who had not gotten food were Ishimaru, who was waiting on everyone to arrive, Naegi, who was waiting on Ishimaru, Enoshima, who was waiting on Naegi, Fukawa who was waiting on Togami, and me. After everyone got their food and sat down, Ishimaru started to talk.  
“Thank you all for coming,” he shouted, “we all need to cooperate to get out of here, and I’m certain we’ll find that meeting together for breakfast everyday will help in that endeavor.”  
“E-every day?” Fukawa stuttered out, “Is this another rule you’re going to enforce on us?”  
“This is not a rule,” I said, “we are going to meet here every morning, and everyone is invited to come. We think it will be greatly beneficial to our ability to function as a group, and serve as something constant to look forward to no matter what happens.” As much as I would enjoy having my mornings to myself, the group needs something constant, that Monokuma has no ability to control, and at this point this is all we can do.  
“I-I don’t normally eat in front of other people,” Fukawa said nervously.  
“Yeah, neither do I,” Kuwata said, “but it’ll be fun right?” I’m glad Kuwata spoke up here, Fukawa needs to know that this will be a new experience for everyone, and it wouldn’t mean nearly as much coming from someone who had organized this.  
“Yeah,” Naegi said, “we’ll get to hang out with everyone, it’ll be great for getting to know people.”  
“Okay I guess,” Fukawa conceded.  
“To the main point,” Enoshima interrupted, “do we have any new clues?” Silence fell over the hall as everyone waited for an answer, “nothing on where we are, or who is doing this, anything?”  
“If you keep demanding information like that, you will die.” I said flatly, “You need to adapt to our current world, and without adapting you will die.”  
“Like, why do you have to keep talking like that?” Kuwata asked, “Do you mean we just have to accept where we are?”  
“Accepting where we are being the best option,” I smiled, as if it was possible for anyone to accept what is going on, “failing that, this is a world where we are constantly being watched,” I gave the camera in the room a small nod, “and where we are told we have to kill. One cannot act the same as they did before and expect the world to react in the same way. We are in a different world; one we have to adapt to.” I smiled as pleasantly as I could. “Panicking, and demanding answers will just get you killed, you need to be calm and rational, uncontrolled emotions will simply make things worse.” Everyone seemed to calm down slightly at my words, realizing just what kind of situation we are in.  
“I don’t have any clues,” Asahina said, “but I can tell you what kind of person trapped us here, a seriously messed up and twisted person!” Wild speculation, the exact opposite of what I wanted everyone to be doing.  
“Messed up and twisted?” Fujisaki asked, “You aren’t referring to a certain murderous fiend are you?”  
“Could you be referring to Genosider Syo?” Togami asked, “The monstrous villain who’s murdered scores of victims in brutally bizarre fashion. At each murder scene the word “bloodlust” was written in the victims own blood.”  
“Could it really be him?” Naegi asked.  
“Certainly not,” I answered.  
“What makes you say that?” Owada asked, “He’s certainly messed up enough to do this.”  
“Genosider Syo is a murderer, and not one to be messed with certainly, however we do have to consider that while we are in a killing game, it is not the type Genosider Syo would be involved in for any capacity.”  
“Wh-what makes you say that?” Fukawa looked to be panicking, as if she could be killed at any moment.  
“Because Genosider Syo is a murderer, who kills for the pleasure,” I said, trying to hide my disgust at the thought of killing for pleasure, “there is no way he would miss out on the killing himself.” This realization let everyone calm down a bit. “Unfortunately this leaves us back where we started, with no additional answers. With that out of the way, let us try to enjoy the rest of our meal.”  
My words had put them on edge, so no one was talking to each other. I hadn’t wanted to put them in that situation, but they would have been even more panicked had I said nothing.  
After some time Hagakure said “I don’t know why you guys are all worried, the police will take care of it.”  
“What?” Naegi asked.  
“We’ve been missing for more than 24 hours right?” Hagakure said, “so people are bound to be searching for us, we should be out of here soon.” He smiled at his perceived fortune, unaware of just how wrong he was.  
“That’s not very likely,” Kirigiri said bluntly, “an entire class of high school students suddenly disappearing would instantly set people searching. If they haven’t found us by now, then it would appear that we are hidden somewhere that is not easily discovered.”  
“But like,” Hagakure struggled to find something to say, “they wouldn’t just leave us here right?”  
“And what evidence do they have?” Kirigiri asked, “We don’t remember being captured, we just remember waking up here. Whoever trapped us here had everything planned out, so we can’t just expect others to help us.”  
“Kirigiri has a point,” Togami said, “even if people are looking for us, we can’t rely on them, we are going to have to find our own way out.”  
“Wait,” Kuwata said, “are you saying that we should actually kill each other?”  
“Well,” Togami smirked, “how things currently are, our only choice is to play this game.”  
“Togami!” Ishimaru shouted, “That is no way to be acting! We need to work together to escape from here!”  
“Ishimaru is correct,” I said, “We cannot allow ourselves to be swayed by that stuffed bear, otherwise we shall all perish.”  
“I have no intention of dying,” Togami stood, prepared to leave, “especially not here.” Before he could get to the door, a familiar voice rang out.  
“Oh don’t leave,” Monokuma’s demonic face appeared from nowhere, “I was just about to tell you all something.”  
“What do you want,” Togami growled at it.  
“Oh, okay,” Monokuma tried to look sad, but was unable to change his smile, “I guess no one wanted what I had to give them.”  
“Gifts?” Naegi asked.  
“Yessirree,” Monokuma’s face returned to normal, “in the AV room you’ll all find videos showing you exactly what you want to see.” His face shifted into something far more menacing, before he vanished.  
“This is a trap.” I said. I didn’t know how, or why, but it was definitely a trap.  
“Come on,” Asahina said, “he said it is exactly what we want to see, it’s got to be a way out.”  
“I don’t know what he thinks we want to see,” Kirigiri said, “but whatever it is, it is certain to only drive a wedge between us.”  
“Yeah,” Naegi said, “but it might be something we want to see. Even if we regret seeing it later, it might have an important clue.”  
“Thanks Naegi,” cheered Owada.  
“For what?” he asked.  
“For volunteering to watch your first,” Owada answered, “that way if there’s a clue, you can tell us, but if not we don’t have to watch it.”  
“B-but what if whatever it is shocks him into silence?” Fujisaki asked.  
“Don’t worry,” Togami said, “he’ll be in the best position, because we’re all going to watch it with him.”  
“What?” Naegi screamed in surprise.  
“We do not all need to watch it with him,” I said, “although maybe one person might be beneficial, in case of it being too hard for him to watch on his own.”  
“I can go with him,” Enoshima jumped at it, “if it’s okay with Makoto that is.”  
“Uh,” Naegi took a moment to catch up with the conversation, “yeah, I don’t mind.”  
“Okay then,” Enoshima grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the AV room.  
“I don’t care what they say,” Asahina looked annoyed at us, “I’m gonna watch it anyways.”  
“Hina,” Ogami said, “it would be wise to practice caution here, as we are not entirely familiar with our environment.”  
“Yeah,” Asahina sighed, “but it might give us a way out, and I can’t pass that up. I’ll wait for what they say, but I’m going to be just outside the door.” Asahina walked out with an excited smile, followed by Ogami.  
“Personally,” Togami started, “I can’t wait to see how this will start the game.” He and Fukawa left the room.  
“Come on, let’s go,” Maizono gestured at Kirigiri and me.  
“We will be right behind you,” I said, “we just need to take care of cleaning up first.”  
“Okay,” Maizono sighed before leaving, she was followed by everyone except Ishimaru, Kirigiri, and me.  
“I really wish we had servants to take the dishes away,” I sighed as I started picking up leftover plates.  
“So that wasn’t a lie then,” Kirigiri said, “I didn’t expect you to actually do this. If that’s the case, I want nothing to do with this breakfast meetup.”  
“I have no desire to,” I said, “but to lie without putting some foundation of truth exposes it instantly. We do need to discuss this trap without everyone overhearing, and Sayaka was not going to leave without us.”  
“Ah,” Ishimaru already had a large stack of dishes in his hands, “well, at the very least it is good to see you have some desire to keep things clean.” Kirigiri slowly began to pick up dishes as well.  
“Sayaka was the one who told you about breakfast,” I started, “so you are unaware of the true purpose of it.”  
“What purpose could it possibly serve,” Kirigiri asked.  
“It gives a consistent time for everyone to meet up,” I said, “so that if anyone does not show up, it means something has happened to them during the night.”  
“Wasn’t that why we set the rule about nighttime?” Ishimaru was walking back from the kitchen after having dumped all the plates off. “To stop everyone from killing each other at night.”  
“I do not expect anyone to completely follow that rule,” I started walking towards the kitchen, “it is simply there to make everyone feel secure, even though we are still in danger.”  
“What about Togami and Fukawa?” Kirigiri asked when I stepped back into the room, “They aren’t going to show up to very many of these.”  
“Like I said before,” I started grabbing cups, “if they cannot adapt to life here, they will die. Cooperation is key to survival, and if they keep acting like they are, then nothing we do will be able to stop them from killing someone, or being killed.”  
“So why did you want me to stay for this little meeting,” Kirigiri asked, “I’m not part of this little group you have.”  
“We are not a group,” I grabbed the last of the cups off the table, “I have as little desire as you do to be heavily involved,” we stepped into the kitchen to place everything in the sink, “however we too, need to adapt to survive. Taka was trying to force everyone to listen to him, but he needed to realize that this class is full of people who are not used to taking orders, so he needs to let them come to their own decisions. Naegi can get people to calm down much faster than anyone else, so we have to put him at the front of every decision.”  
“Then why am I here?” Kirigiri sat down at one of the smaller tables, after we had finished clearing the large one.  
“Because you seem to have some understanding of how we need to act,” I joined her at the table, “you saw that it was a trap as well. With that, I need to ask the both of you a question.” I looked between her and Ishimaru, who had joined us, “Do we watch the tapes at all? They’ll definitely tell us something important, but it will also be something we don’t want to hear. Is the risk of the motive worth the information it’ll give us?” I realized that I had dropped my accent during the question, but neither of them seemed to have noticed.  
“We should watch them,” Kirigiri said immediately, “while there will definitely be some lies in them, like you said earlier, they will need to contain a foundation of truth, and finding the truth is the most important aspect of this situation.”  
“Whatever this is,” Ishimaru said, “It is definitely intended to make us want to kill, so we cannot watch it.”  
“I have an odd feeling,” I said after some time, “that whatever is at the start of the video, will be something we desire to see, but there will come a point where we can stop it, and we should go no further than that.”  
“That seems like a fine way to go about it,” Ishimaru said, “if it looks bad from the start we can stop it, but if not then we can watch as far as we please.”  
“I may end up watching all of it,” Kirigiri said, “but it is a good plan.” With that, we left the dining hall to join the others in the AV room. As we saw them, their expressions were all pale and horrified.  
“Where are Enoshima and Sayaka?” I asked Naegi. He had seen it first, so he would’ve had more time to recover.  
“I-uh,” Naegi’s face shook when he realized that I had asked him a question. “I don’t know, they must’ve left.”  
“Well then,” I smiled, and turned to look at Kirigiri and Ishimaru, “shall we begin.”  
We cautiously took our DVD’s out of a cardboard box on one of the computers, and took them over to some open computers. “Should,” I stated, then recomposed myself and said “perhaps we should watch each other’s video, and be a bit more cautious about it?”  
“Uhh,” Ishimaru started, “whatever this is, I do not feel like I should burden you with it.” Kirigiri had already sat down to watch hers, so I did not press any further. I slowly placed the DVD in the player, and hit play.  
A picture appeared on the screen, of my apartment back home, and elegant cushion, with an elegant grey cat sitting upon it. His elegant white frilled collar looked exactly how I remembered it, with a black bow holding it on. I had not expected to see a picture of my cat, Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg, in the video. The screen held on the picture for a moment, before a flicker of static hit the screen. I slammed my finger onto the eject button, afraid of what it would show me next. The DVD ejected, and the screen turned black, but not before I had caught a glimpse of what looked to be my apartment, except that everything in it was destroyed. I looked over to Ishimaru to see that he had done the same.  
“I d-don’t want to know what they saw,” I said, in what could barely call a whisper. I looked over to Kirigiri to see that she had not stopped the video, but had let it play out the entire length. I did not recognize where it was, but the room in the picture looked like it had been through a war. “Kirigiri,” I said, as I grabbed her arm.  
“Uh,” she seemed to awaken from a dream in that moment, then looked at me, “I have to watch it again.”  
“It will ju-” I started.  
“No,” she cut me off, “not for that reason. From the look on your face I can tell you didn’t watch yours until the end. I’m going to need yours.” She paused before saying, “Actually, get me as many of them as possible. If I’m right, I might be able to figure out just what happened here.”  
I was cautious of giving away the DVD, partially because of what it might say about me, and partially because it held an image of what was the most precious to me, but I handed it over. I then looked to Ishimaru who handed his over as well. We went around to everyone left in the room, and took theirs, very few people fought to keep them, before handing them back to Kirigiri.  
“I’m going to need some time to work,” she said, before inserting the first disc.  
“It’ll probably help everyone if we go ahead and escort them back to their rooms,” I told Ishimaru.  
“Yes,” he nodded, trying to keep a positive look on his face, “we should go ahead and do that.”  
We began leading everyone back to their rooms. It was going smoothly until I got to Fujisaki.  
“No,” she whispered.  
“What?” I asked, thinking I might’ve misheard her.  
“No,” she seemed firmer in her statement now, “I need to stay. Whenever Kirigiri finishes looking through the videos, there is something I might be able to do to help.”  
“Okay,” I said leaving her, “just be certain that whatever you do will be helpful.”  
“It will,” she said with a look of determination on her face. With that I let he take the seat next to Kirigiri, where she began messing with something on the video player. I finished leading everyone back to their rooms before going back to mine. If this is how I feel just from knowing something happened, how much worse does everyone else feel having seen images like the one on Kirigiris screen.

I stayed in my room for a few hours, cleaning and making sure my dresses didn’t need any repairs, before noticing that it was time for lunch, so I headed out to meet with everyone.  
When I arrived, there was no one else there, so I fixed myself a cup of tea while I waited. It had been almost half an hour before Enoshima and Naegi stumbled in.  
“Oh,” I said in surprise, even though I had been waiting on them, I was not expecting anyone else to show up, “Makoto, Junko, it is very good to see you two about.”  
“Uh, yeah,” Enoshima said, “I just needed, to leave my room for a while. I went to check on Makoto, and he remembered our lunch plans, so I guess we came.”  
“Where’s everyone else?” Naegi said as he walked over to my table.  
“They have not yet arrived, although I do not expect them to.” I said with a half-hearted smile.  
“Why don’t we go check on them?” Enoshima asked, “I’m not really hungry after this morning, so it wouldn’t bother me that much.”  
“If you wish you may go check on them, they are probably in their rooms,” I said dismissively, “you may go check on them if you like, but if they do not wish to come just be back here in half an hour.”  
“Okay,” Naegi said, “we’ll go do that.” They left in the same daze that they had entered in.  
After they left I remembered that Kirigiri was still doing something with the videos. I walked out the door, only to see an empty hall. I decided I may as well go and check up on her myself, so I headed to the AV room.  
I opened the door to a sight I had not been prepared for. Each of the monitors had a different video paused, with Naegi’s currently projected onto the screen at the back of the room. Next to each screen were several papers, with a drawing of the room at the start of the video, and the one at the end of the video. There were many more papers scattered around, that looked like they were scattered randomly around the room. I bent down to pick up one of them, when suddenly I heard.  
“Don’t touch anything,” I turned to see Kirigiri setting by the projector controls, with a notebook in her hand, “everything is in a very specific place, and if you move it I will have to start over again.”  
“Where is Fujisaki?” I asked, suddenly concerned for her whereabouts.  
“I asked her to leave because I needed this whole room,” she said without looking up, “I told her I would give her the DVDs after I finished.”  
“Very well then,” I smiled, “since we had agreed on meeting up for lunch I just came to let you know that Naegi and Enoshima decided to join me today. If you think you need a break from,” I gestured around at the room, “all of this, you can come join us.”  
Kirigiri gave me an exasperated look “I know you are trying to help, but I just need time to work on this Yasuh-”  
“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?” I screamed at her, “WHERE DID YOU HEAR THAT NAME!” I had completely lost my composure upon hearing the start of that name. Kirigiri did not look visibly afraid, but she did push her chair back away from me.  
“I’m sorry,” she said flatly, “it’s the name your tape uses, I’ve been listening to these all day, so I didn’t think about it.”  
I took a moment to force myself to calm down. Screaming at Kirigiri is only going to draw attention that I have no desire for. “It is fine,” I forced out, “just do not let anyone else know that, or else I will kill you myself, regardless of whether or not we are in a murder game. That name is never to be spoken aloud in my presence, understand?”  
“I understand the concept,” she said in agreement, “I just have one question.”  
“Since you already know that, I guess you may ask,” I growled.  
“Does this have anything to do with why you hate Hagakure?”  
“Hagakure is a fool who cannot be trusted,” I said, standing straight up for the first time since this started, “there are many things I hate about Hagakure,” I was about to end it at that, when I remembered that I should at least give her a completely honest answer, “however, I have always found a certain pleasure in ruining the lives of those who share that name.”  
I left without a farewell, and headed back to the dining hall. Naegi and Maizono were nowhere to be seen, but Enoshima was standing next to a table.  
“Ugh,” she sneered, “I was wondering where you went. I thought someone might’ve found an exit and left without me. First I couldn’t get Kirigiri to answer, then Makoto vanished on me, and finally I came back here only to find you gone.”  
“I remembered that Kirigiri had stayed in the AV room,” I said, “so I went to talk to her. She is analyzing the videos looking for something.” I thought for a moment before saying, “if you want to give her a copy of yours you can, but I don’t know if it’d help at all.”  
“NO!” she jumped back at the idea of it, “Uh, I mean, I’d rather keep my video to myself, it might be terrible, but it does have some nice words for me.”  
“Anyways talking to Kirigiri made me feel just terrible, so I am going to take some time for myself, I am sorry I will not be able to spend any time with you, but there is always tomorrow,” I forced a smile onto my face. Tomorrow everything would go back to normal, and we would all have a nice lunch together. For now, I just needed time to myself.

Thinking about who we had as allies, I realized that if any progress was to be made, I would have to get everyone to work together. While most of the group would be willing to help, even if just to save themselves, there was one outlier who I would have to deal with. I left my room, and went looking, eventually finding Togami alone in the entrance hall.  
“Hello,” I gave a friendly smile.  
“Go away,” he said, “I have no use for someone like you.”  
“There is always use in listening to those around you,” I said.  
“I don’t care what you have to say,” he started to walk by me. I grabbed his arm as tight as I could. “Let go of me.”  
“Not before you hear me out,” I glared at him.  
“I have no desire to be all buddy-buddy with anyone else, I will win this game by my skill alone, and no speech about friendship is going to change that.”  
“Do you really understand so little about me?” I asked, “Simply put, you have to adapt. Normally I would be avoiding all unnecessary contact with everyone, but we must work together. This is not about pride, nor is it about victory. This is about survival, plain and simple. The way you are currently acting, you are putting yourself in the spotlight, and constantly drawing attention to yourself, which will simply get you killed.”  
His expression hardened, “Oh, I constantly put myself at the center of attention, as compared to you, who is constantly organizing events to put everyone in the same area, claiming to be for the sake of friendship which you and I both know is a lie.”  
“Do you not realize the benefit of organization?” I asked, “The more people in an area, the less likely it is for anyone to be killed. If whoever is behind this was willing to let someone kill the entirety of the class at once, they would not have organized this killing game. Acting together keeps us safe. If you wish to keep acting on your own that is fine, I just came to give you this as a last warning, adapt, or die. There is no other option.”  
“If you do not see the unknown quantities that are within the group, then there is nothing you can add either,” while I myself was unsure of what all was going on, having it repeated back to me may very well give me inspiration.  
“If you truly believe Kirigiri will see through this, then you are vastly overestimating her abilities,” he sneered.  
“Hehe,” I chuckled, “your view of the world is too limited. You quickly place value on some and refuse to acknowledge all others. If you paid any attention, you would already know who can help and who to avoid.”  
“The only reason any of them would be useful is pure luck,” he dismissed my statement.  
“Luck,” I rolled the word on my tongue, “if you think so little of luck, then you will be less useful than I thought.” I left without another word. I will not allow myself to be stuck at his level.  
I brushed past Fukawa as I returned to my room.

I spent the next couple of hours sewing in my room. I did not have the material on hand to make a complete dress, but it was something I could do to pass the time. After some time had passed, I heard.  
DING, DONG  
I opened the door to see Ishimaru wearing a forced smile “Hello there,” he said, clearly trying to pretend everything was normal.  
“Hello Taka,” I returned his expression, “is there something you wanted to talk about, because I was just getting into a rhythm.” I held up my sewing to show what I had been up to.  
“Well,” he scratched the back of his head before continuing, “I thought it might be good for us to have a strategy meeting.”  
“While I do see the need for the occasional meeting,” I said, “there is not much to discuss today, as everything Monokuma did was extremely obvious in its meaning.”  
“Yes,” he looked down briefly before returning to a smile, “but starting a daily strategy meeting will keep us up with constant information, and make certain we all know what is going on.”  
“And who else are you planning on inviting?” I asked, “because I do not believe we will be able to get everyone to meet up a second time during the day.”  
“Kirigiri seems to have learned something,” he returned, “and Naegi is great at helping.”  
“No,” I said flatly, “Naegi will not be helpful during strategy meetings. He is able to keep everyone working together, but having private meetings will harm the trust everyone put in him. You may invite Kirigiri if you wish, but she does not like being relied upon either.”  
“So you will come to the meeting?” he raised his arms in excitement at my words.  
“It is time for dinner, so I may as well help,” I sighed, “but do not expect me to show up every day.”  
“Wonderful, I will go find Kirigiri,” and with that he was gone.  
I started to consider just ignoring him, and spending the rest of the evening in my room, but I decided that it would be more trouble than it was worth.  
I went to the dining hall and fixed myself dinner. By the time I started to sit down, Ishimaru had returned, with Kirigiri in tow.  
“Oh,” I smiled, “I had not expected you to come.”  
“He was right about the need for a strategy meeting,” she sat down across from me, “and I finished looking through the tapes.”  
“Did you find anything interesting?” I asked, expecting nothing.  
“Actually,” she said with a serious face, “I found a lot of information in there.” She looked around the room, to check that it was only us three before continuing, “I don’t want everyone to panic, but there is something odd about these pictures.”  
“Are they fake?” Ishimaru asked, “Because that would be quite a relief.”  
“No,” she said without changing her expression, “the videos have every indication that the room at the start is the same one at the end.” Ishimaru looked to be upset by this, as if a bit of hope had been stolen from him. “However, the damage to the rooms appear to be old, like they had been there for over a year.”  
“That cannot be right,” I said in surprise, “we have only been her a few days, how could they have become that damaged?”  
“That’s not the only strange part,” she continued, “while most of the damage is random, in every image there is a repeated symbol. If you only looked at it for a short time you wouldn’t notice, and before we showed up here I would’ve dismissed it as coincidence. Now, this symbol is the largest clue we have to what is going on.” She reached into her pocket and pullout out a sketched image that I would recognize anywhere, a jagged line, turning to a curve at the end. It was the eye of Monokuma, and without its black bean counterpart, it appeared even more menacing. After making sure we had seen it, she put it away, making sure that it was never in view of the camera.  
“We could speculate on what this means,” I managed to say, “but for now,” I tilted my head towards the camera, “I think we should save our efforts on more concrete evidence.”  
“Yes,” Kirigiri nodded in understanding, “give me a moment to get some food, we may as well eat dinner together since we’re here.” She walked off to the kitchen, followed closely by Ishimaru. I took the time they were gone to think about something to ask them. I was only able to come up with one question, but maybe they’d be able to make something of it.  
After they returned and sat down, I asked “So what are your favorite games?”  
“I do not have one,” Ishimaru declared, “games are a waste of time.”  
“That is an interesting stance,” I said surprised.  
“Especially coming from someone sitting next to the Ultimate Gambler,” Kirigiri continued.  
“Gambling is illegal, and the practice only harms those who partake in it.” He avoided looking directly at me while speaking.  
“I have gotten that response more times than I bother to remember,” I dismissed the insult, “however I am surprised you are not a fan of chess. Many of my opponents have told me it is an excellent way to practice political strategy.”  
“That kind of strategy is only useful to those who wish to subvert the rules,” he said boldly, “the only strategy I need is being morally unquestionable.” That statement was far from true, and if he actually tried to engage in politics he’d be eaten alive.  
“You haven’t ever applied it yourself?” Kirigiri asked, “you act like you’ve been in situations where you have had to use those strategies before.”  
“I have,” I said, “many times, however I only ever play chess one way. Calling it a strategy would be a stretch, but I have never lost a game.”  
“I wonder,” Kirigiri said, “could you have solved chess?”  
“Solved chess?” Ishimaru asked, “what do you mean?”  
“There are a finite number of moves that can be made in any possible chess game,” she said, “so it has been theorized that someone could develop a strategy to which there are no counters. Many people believe that it would be possible to find, but,”  
“Maybe someone as skilled as the Ultimate Gambler could discover it?” I said, “Is that what you were going to say? I hate to say it, but admittedly that would not have been skill discovering it.”  
“Why would you say that?” Ishimaru asked, “You are obviously very skilled to have be granted a talent such as yours.”  
“No,” I said, “I did not develop a strategy for this, because that would require me to have known how to play chess prior to using this. One day I challenged a rich man to any game of his choosing. He said he had never lost a game of chess, so that was his pick. I had someone quickly explain the rules to me before we began. I moved my pieces how they were supposed to, before winning. One of the viewers went on to tell me it was one of the most grueling games they had ever seen, and that they did not know how I had managed to keep my calm. Every time since, those same moves have appeared to be the only logical option.”  
“Whenever we get out of here,” Kirigiri said, “we will need to test if this actually guarantees success.”  
“So,” Ishimaru looked at me with something of a glare, “would you consider yourself something of a genius whenever it comes to games.”  
I thought for a moment, before saying “No, luck is the driving factor in any game. Even a genius can lose to a novice who has more luck than them. That is one reason I enjoy gambling, it brings no end of pain to those who believe themselves my betters. They look at me like a child, like I could never begin to approach their skill, but they go on to lose everything, on just one bad roll of dice, or a hand that looks to be unstoppable, until I pull out a better one. Seeing those who consider themselves to be a genius, lose to someone who does not even know how to play the game, is very exhilarating.”  
“Great,” Ishimaru cheered up immediately, “in that case playing games might be of some value after all.”  
We spent the next several hours talking about several types of games, and explaining how the rules worked. For a time, we seemed to have forgotten our situation. Eventually we had to return to reality, and went our separate ways for the night.


	3. Deadly Life 1

Ding dong  
The doorbell woke me up. I tried to remember why someone would come to my apartment so early, before I opened my eyes to see a dorm room. “Oh, right” I wished that the past few days had been a dream, but I was going to have to accept them as real if I was to survive.  
I walked over to the door and opened it a crack. “Hello Ishimaru,” I said only somewhat amicably. I might be willing to wake up this early, but I wasn’t going to be happy about it, “I will meet you in the dining hall.”  
“Uhh-” Ishimaru said cautiously, “get ready fast, there is something here you should see. I’m going to wake up Kirigiri for this.”  
“Kirigiri?” I was surprised to hear her name “I thought she did not want anything to do with breakfast.”  
“Breakfast?” he sounded confused, “oh yes breakfast, we should discuss that later, this is more important.” More important? What could he possibly be talking about?  
“I’ll be out as soon as possible,” I was hesitant to ask for any more details, but I needed to know. I closed the door and got ready quickly.  
I opened the door and looked down the hall, to see something I wasn’t prepared for. Lying face down in front of the cafeteria, was the dead body of Aoi Asahina. Her clothes were torn, and stained with blood, and a kitchen knife was sticking out of her back.   
Ding Dong, Bing Bong  
The monitor turned on to reveal Monokuma sitting in his usual chair. “A body has been discovered,” came his cheerful voice, “please head to the gymnasium for additional rules.” The monitor turned off again.  
“We should go to the gym to see what he’ll to say,” came a detached voice, that I recognized as my own, “he may have something helpful to say.”  
“I doubt it,” Kirigiri stood up from her position over the body, “but we will have to go anyways.”  
“Wh-what about everyone else,” stuttered Ishimaru, “shouldn’t we wait on them?”  
“They probably didn’t wake up,” I said, “I could wait here for a bit, before sending them to the gym.” I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be able to move from my current position for some time.  
“Hmm, whoever did this might also try to tamper with the crime scene,” said Kirigiri, “we should keep an eye on it, until everyone is awake.”  
“Oh,” came a condescending voice, “so that’s what this is about.” Togami strode in, barely even noticing Asahina’s body. “So someone took it upon themselves to get this started. Well then, I’ll be waiting in the gymnasium.”  
“Don’t you care that someone just died?” Ishimaru seemed indignant.  
“People die all the time,” Togami sneered, “just because we were in the same building doesn’t mean I have to care about it.”  
“Let him go Taka,” I finally regained some of my composure, “If he wanted to help he would, but he has already shown he is intent on playing this by Monokuma’s rules.”  
“Indeed,” Togami said, “so unless you have anything important to say, I’ll be leaving.” He left with Ishimaru watching, unable to understand how someone could be so callous about a dead body.  
“What was-” Ogami’s voice cut out mid-sentence as she laid her eyes on Asahina’s corpse, “I couldn’t save her."   
“It is not your fault,” I tried to console her, “the only person we need to blame is the one who did this.”  
“Yes,” her face hardened into determination, “I will find whoever did this. They will regret what they have done.”  
“You should wait in the gym,” Kirigiri said, “we will meet you there once everyone else wakes up.”  
“Yes,” Ogami replied, “That will be fine,” before heading off.  
“What was that?” said Kuwata, “I was just falling asleep too, I was up all night… doing stuff.” I turned around to see him standing there with his head down, not seeing what was going on.  
“Well wh-whatever it was,” stuttered Fukawa, “you probably shouldn’t have been doing it anyways.” She had apparently stepped out around the same time as him, and not looked backwards yet.  
“You two may want to head to the gym immediately,” Kirigiri said, “the sight in front of you isn’t pleasant.” At those words they turned to see what lie down the hall.  
“WH-WHAT?!” Screamed Kuwata, as Fukawa fainted. Kuwata realized just fast enough to catch her, before looking over to us “uh, where should I take her? She’ll probably just pass out again if we leave her here.”  
“Monokuma said the gym,” Ishimaru offered, “do you need any help carrying her?” Kuwata looked like he was about to say something, before Fukawa shot upright.  
“Hello,” she said with a big smile, “oh, is that a dead body?” Now she looked completely unfazed by something that made her faint just moments ago. “Yep, looks like she died. Sliced throat if I’m not mistaken, Ahahahaha!” she let out a demonic laugh.  
“What about the knife?” I said, shocked by her sudden change.  
“Nah, not enough blood around the wound for that,” she suddenly stopped to think, “probably just needed to put the murder weapon somewhere. If you can’t get rid of it, might as well store it in the body.”  
“Uh, I’ll take you to the gym,” Ishimaru said, “you don’t seem to be doing very well around a body.”  
“Hmm, I mean,” Fukawa lowered her head and tried to hide her face, “yeah, probably not good to be around such a gory sight for long. It might drive me mad!” She let out a small laugh at that, before stifling it.  
“Yeah, uh let’s go,” Kuwata started leading her away, with Ishimaru following close behind.  
“Could she be right?” I walked over towards Kirigiri and the body, “Was the knife put there after her death?”  
“Looks to be,” Kirigiri said, “she’s right about the blood, but I’ll look into it more after we go to the gym.”  
“AHHHHHHH!” We turned around as soon as we heard the scream, and saw Naegi passed out in front of Maizono’s dorm. I walked over and tried to wake him up, but he stayed there unmoving.  
“Ishimaru just left,” I said, “and I would rather not leave the body unattended, so what should we do?”  
“I can take him,” I turned to see Enoshima come out of her dorm.  
“Are you certain you can carry him on your own?” I asked the fashionista.  
“I-uh, I’m stronger than I look,” she said nervously, “besides, he can’t be that heavy.” I stepped back and let her grab him. She threw him over shoulder with little effort. “See.” She started walking to the gym.  
“You seem to be handling this well,” I said, “most people so far have screamed.”  
“I’ve been around my fair share of dead bodies,” she dismissed my statement, “this is far from the worst one I’ve seen.” She left before she could say another word.  
“I never asked this before,” I walked over to Kirigiri, finally able to move from my spot, “but do you find her terrifying?”  
“Not the word I’d use,” she kept her eyes trained on where Enoshima had left the room, “but she’s definitely been through a lot of trauma.”  
“That is how I would describe you,” I said a little too callously, “she is beyond that. She appears to have caused that kind of trauma in others.”  
“I don’t know,” came a new voice, “she seems nice.” Maizono stepped out from the dorm hallway, wearing a backpack for the first time since I’d met her. She walked over to us with her normal smile, “what brought up this conversation?” she asked innocently.  
“That,” Kirigiri pointed to Asahina.  
“Oh,” Maizono didn’t flinch at first, but went pale after a moment, “oh, I-I’ll be on my way,” she headed off without a further word.  
“That was odd,” I said without thinking.  
“You’re right,” Kirigiri said, “she’s been dragging me all over the place, but now she just let me stay here without question.”  
I tried to find an explanation for a moment, failing that I remembered why I had stayed here. “I will check on everyone else, they may have missed the announcement.”  
I walked over to the nearest door that hadn’t been opened, and pressed the doorbell. After a moment, I pressed it again, this time the door opened a crack, “Whaddaya want?” asked Owada.  
“Monokuma called everyone to the gym because,” I paused, “because of something you will soon see.”  
“Fine,” he grumbled. He grabbed his jacket before stepping out. His face turned to rage at the sight of the body, “I’m gonna kill whoever did this.” He said marching forward.  
“Whatever Monokuma has to tell us will be about what happens next,” Kirigiri said, “just go to the gym, and wait.”  
“Ugh, alright.” He said with a sigh, “but if either of you did this, I will return the favor.” He glared at both of us before he left.  
“That went better than I expected,” I sighed.  
“You thought he’d panic?” Kirigiri asked.  
“No, I expected him to immediately try to strangle whoever gave him the bad news. As far as seeing the corpse, I expected pretty much that.” I walked over to the next to and rang the bell.  
“Huh,” asked Fujisaki groggily, “what happened to the Monokuma announcement?”  
I looked at the clock to see that it was after 7:00 “It must have been cancelled because of the earlier one.”  
“What earlier one?” She asked.  
“Something, happened,” I cautiously, “to Asahina. She appears to have been murdered.”  
“What?” She shrieked.  
“Yes,” I said, “her body is in front of the cafeteria, if you wish you may cover your eyes as I escort you past the location.”  
“I-” she froze, “no, I need to see for myself.” She stepped out to see the body. She was clearly shaking, but forced herself to look at it, and walk closer.  
“Everyone is waiting in the gym,” I said encouragingly, “we will be there after we get the last few people.”  
“Okay,” she said, “thank you.”  
“Do not worry about it,” I said, “this has been a difficult experience for everyone.” I lead her past the body and into the hallway, before she went off on her own.  
“I never asked,” I walked towards Kirigiri, “how did you react?”  
“This isn’t my first time seeing death,” she said, “I’ve seen these kinds of cases before, so I was prepared.”  
“Well, I am glad you are so comfortable,” I said sincerely, “I do not know how we would have handled this without you.”  
“I’m not comfortable,” she said quickly, “I’ve just seen this before. It’s not good for a person to get comfortable around death.”  
“I was just referring to how you handled this,” I said “I was unable to react well, which would have made things worse if you were not here.”  
“You did fine, you didn’t panic like Naegi, but you also showed fear. If Togami or I had been the only ones around, especially with Owada, things would’ve been worse.”   
“That was intentional, I was only acting how others need to see me.” I said with false confidence, before turning the corner to ring the next doorbell.  
“H-hello?” asked Yamada as he opened the door.  
I gave a nervous smile before saying “There has been an incident, we need everyone to meet up in the gymnasium.”  
“What happened?” he asked  
“Asahina has been murdered.” I said.  
“Wh-what?”  
“Yes, her body is in front of the cafeteria, so we will have to walk past it.”  
“C-can you guide me? I don’t think I can look at her body.” Yamada asked. While I was more than happy to help someone as delicate as Fujisaki, I was reluctant to do the same for him.  
After a moment of deliberation, I said “If I must.” He closed his eyes and stretched out his hand, and I reluctantly took it, slowly guiding him around, avoiding the body, and eventually taking him out into the hall. “The rest of the way should be clear, take care.” He looked nervous as I let him go, but headed off on his own.  
As I was walking back I heard “You were definitely scared.”  
“What?” I asked.  
“When you saw the body, you dropped your accent,” Kirigiri said, “you only do that when you’re scared.”  
“So you noticed that,” I considered denying it, but knew it wouldn’t help.  
“Ishimaru didn’t, so you won’t have to worry about him,” she tried to make me feel better, “it doesn’t matter, what does is that you were scared. Scared means your imagination is still working, without imagination you can’t see the next step to take.”  
“That is an interesting assessment,” I thought for a moment before asking, “are you scared?”  
“Of course I am, I just find that people tend to listen to those who act calm,” she said.  
“So you think not showing your emotions makes people listen to you most of the time?” I said considering her words.  
“No,” she said flatly, “most of the time they ignore me for not reacting, but whenever it comes to situations like this, they’ll listen to me. The rest of the time doesn’t matter; this when it counts.” Something seemed off whenever she said that last part, as if she didn’t believe her own words.  
“Now,” I tried to keep an even expression, “I just have to get Hagakure.” I went to his door and hit the doorbell.  
“Argh, why’d you have to wake me up?” grumbled Hagakure.  
“We are needed in the gymnasium.” I said.  
“Why though?” he yawned.  
“Asahina,” I paused considering how to phrase it, “Asahina is dead. Monokuma called us there to discuss what happened.”  
“D-DEAD!” Hagakure yelled, “N-no, that can’t be right, I read the future, she isn’t supposed to die!”  
“Your readings do not matter,” I said, “what matters is that she is dead.”  
“Y-yeah,” he looked nervous, “I guess we should go. Can you guide me past the body?”  
“No,” I said flatly before walking away. Kirigiri was still investigating the area when we walked up, “Anything new?”  
“There is one last thing for me to determine before I start looking other places,” she said, “but that can wait until we get everyone else.” She stood up, and gestured for us to walk past. Hagakure’s face blanched at the sight of the body, but he managed to walk past. We walked into the gym where we saw everyone waiting.  
“What took you guys so long!” shouted an annoyed Monokuma “I sent out that message over an hour ago!”  
“Message?” asked Hagakure “what message?”  
“He sent out an alert whenever we found Asahina,” Kirigiri said, “we had to make sure everyone woke up, so it took a while.”  
“I guess that’s fine,” Monokuma looked down trying to act insulted, “just try to be faster in the future.”  
“If we can, we will attempt to do so.” I said pleasantly.  
“Why are you guys listening to him,” screamed Naegi, “he’s the one who killed Asahina!”  
“I would never do that!” Monokuma responded, “If you can believe anything, you can believe that! Unless someone violates a school regulation, I absolutely will not interfere. I can promise you, I won’t do anything that goes against the purpose of your school life here.”  
“Then w-who did it?” asked Fukawa, “Who killed her?”  
“You already know the answer!” Monokuma cheered happily, “One of you killed her. One of you decided to kill Asahina so that you could graduate! Someone’s just following the rules. There’s nothing wrong with that!”  
“He’s lying right?” asked Yamada.  
“Of course he’s lying,” responded Naegi.  
“Nope, sorry. One of you is now a bona fide killer.” Monokuma attempted a smirk, “If they wanted to, the one who did it could testify to that little fact.” At that we all looked around at each other with fear, suspicion, and confusion.  
“Are you serious?” asked Fujisaki.  
“Someone… Someone killed her!” Ishimaru’s face was awash with fear.  
I was not surprised by this, I had seen people do far worse for much less reward, but I was still disgusted at the sight.  
“That’s enough!” shouted Togami “Before we do anything else, I’d like to confirm something with the stuffed animal here. If one of us really did kill her, that person gets to graduate from the school, right?”  
“Huh?” asked Monokuma innocently.  
“Don’t play dumb!” growled Togami, “That’s what you said, isn’t it! If you kill someone, you get to leave!”  
Monokuma let out his high pitched menacing laugh, “You’re all so naïve! You really think it’s that easy? You can just kill someone and waltz on outta here? You’re super naïve! No, we’ve just begun. Now, allow me to explain the second part of the rule regarding graduation! Just as I explained before, you must kill someone if you want to leave. However, even if you do that, there’s still one more part to the agreement you have to uphold, remember?”  
“Wha-what other part?” asked Maizono.  
“You are referring to rule number six of the school regulations,” I explained “if you are the blackened that committed the murder, you can’t be found out by the other students. That is the part you are referring to, correct?”  
“Bingo! It’s not enough to just kill someone. You have to actually get away with it! Which naturally means you need a system in place to assess whether or not it’s been gotten away with! So, a certain amount of time after a murder has taken place, a class trial will begin! It’ll begin a few hours after the murder!” Monokuma seemed almost excited to experience the trial, “Everyone will gather together, including the blackened who committed the murder. And then everyone will engage in one big debate showdown!”  
The monitor switched over to an animation, featuring Monokuma sitting in front of a bunch of students in a courtroom-like setting. “During the trial, you’ll have to present your arguments about who you think the blackened is. And once everything comes to an end, the outcome will be decided by popular vote! If the answer you’ve arrived at is correct, only the one that disturbed your peace will be punished. The rest may continue their communal life. However, if you choose poorly, then the one who got away with murder will survive, and the rest of you will receive your punishment. Which of course means your school life will come to an end! As far as class trial rules go… that’s all there is to it!”  
“Wh-what do you mean by punishment?” asked Maizono.  
“To put it simply, it’s execution!” Monokuma almost cheered that word, while Maizono visibly blanched more than she did at Asahina’s body.  
“Execution!” Yamada nearly jumped out of his own skin.  
“An-and by that you mean,” stuttered Fujisaki.  
“Execution is execution. Ex-e-cution!” Monokuma’s face filled my vision with those words, “Electric chair, bzzt bzzt! Poison gas, cough cough! Torn apart like a paper plane in a hurricane!”  
“So to make sure I understand,” Ishimaru looked nervous, “if we get the culprit right, then only they die, but if we get it wrong, all the rest of us get executed?”  
“It’s what’s normally called a lay-judge, or inquisition type case, but judge carefully, because all your lives are on the line!” Monokuma appeared to be enjoying himself, “Okay, let me add the rules I just described to your handbook, make sure to keep it in mind!”  
“Hold on a second!” Screamed Enoshima, “You’re freaking insane, you know that? A class trial? What is that. I don’t want anything to do with it!” Naegi stepped up next to her, supporting her.  
“Huh?” asked Monokuma, “Whaddaya mean?”  
“Why do I have to waste my time trying to figure out who murdered someone?” Enoshima looked enraged by the thought.  
“What?” Monokuma asked innocently “Are you saying you’re not gonna participate in the trial? Only punishment awaits such blasphemy!”  
“What? Punishment?” Enoshima looked terrified by the thought.  
“I might, I dunno, throw you in a deep, dark, scary prison or something!” Monokuma appeared pleased at the thought.  
“Shut up! Do whatever you want. I refuse to be a part of this!” she screamed.  
“Don’t be so selfish,” Monokuma returned.  
“You’re the one being selfish! Kill whoever you want, it’s got nothing to do with me!” the comment seemed to just enrage her more.  
“The evil standing here before me… I’m trembling with fear!” Monokuma shot claws through his paws, “but I won’t give in to such evil! It’s my style to stick it out and resist till the very end! If you really wanna get out of here, you’ll have to go through me first!” Monokuma went charging at her, but as soon as he got close, she slammed her foot down onto his chest, pinning him to the ground.  
“Are you enjoying yourself now?” She sneered at him.  
“Are you?” Asked Monokuma with what sounded like a smirk.  
“Huh?” Enoshima seemed confused at what he could mean.  
“Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is not allowed. You’ve violated a school regulation…” He sounded excited at what was happening, “I invoke the mighty summon spell! Help! To me, go-”  
“Junko look out!” Naegi shouted before Monokuma could finish what he was saying. Naegi tackled Enoshima, knocking her to the ground, just before Monokuma finished.  
“-dly spear Gungnir!” Six spears shot out and went through empty air, right where Enoshima had been standing just a moment before.  
“Wh… huh?” Enoshima stared at the spears in horror, “This wasn’t… supposed to… happen.”  
“Huh,” Monokuma seemed surprised that she had survived that, “consider this a warning then. However, keep in mind, next time someone interferes with a punishment, their fate will be the same as the one they tried to help.” He looked around at all of our shocked faces “Defy me and you will get shot full of holes, exploded, buried alive, disintegrated… et cetera. So if you don’t want that to happen to you, you’d best obey those school regulations! Anyways, as for the matter at hand,” Monokuma held out a black file with a red number one emblazoned on it, “this little file has all the information I’ve gathered about the death in question. I like to call it the Monokuma file! I mean, naturally you guys aren’t experts at this kind of thing, so you can only do so much with a corpse. So instead, I’ve gathered up everything I know about the circumstances and cause of death. What’s that? How do I know the cause of death, you ask? Cuz the surveillance cameras picked up the whole thing! I got to see it all go down!”  
“So you know who killed Asahina?” Kirigiri asked.  
“Of course I do! If I didn’t, I couldn’t possibly pass a fair and accurate judgement during the trial, now could I?” He said cheerily.  
“That is a good point,” Kirigiri said cautiously, “the judge has to be able to make the proper decision. That’s somewhat comforting.”  
“Now then,” Monokuma rushed, “please put your full effort behind our investigation! After all, you don’t have any choice but to give it your best shot! So we’ll meet up for the class trial in a little while!”  
We all ran over to Enoshima and Naegi, to see if they were okay. We helped them up, and made sure they were fine.  
“I-I didn’t think s-he would do that,” Enoshima stuttered out.  
“Which is why you will die here,” Togami said flatly.  
“She almost died,” Naegi said pointedly, “Do you not care about anything?”  
“Not for someone who did something so foolish,” he sneered, “we’ve all seen what Monokuma is capable of, as is we’re just lucky that you didn’t end up dead, or getting someone else killed.”  
“Let’s focus on the fact that we lived,” Naegi said with a smile.  
“Don’t you forget that she was doing everything she could to get out of the trial,” Togami was not letting up, “for all we know that’s because she’s the killer.”  
“Enough,” Kirigiri said, “The worst thing we can do right now is lose all faith in each other. That would lead to the same disastrous result as having total faith in everyone else,” she looked pointedly at Naegi with that line.  
“Huh?” Kuwata asked.  
“Cooperation is absolutely key at this point,” she said, “who you decide to trust, or not trust is, of course, up to you.”  
“Continuing to think and talk about the deceased certainly is not going to help anything,” I said.  
“W-we can’t just move on,” Fujisaki stuttered.  
“In normal circumstances, no,” I said, “however if we cannot adapt to these circumstances, we will die.”  
“How can you say something like that?” she asked indignantly, “especially after what just happened.”  
“What just happened is exactly why I have to say it,” I countered, “Monokuma told us as clearly as possible, if we do not find the killer, we will die. We can mourn her tomorrow, but today we will need to investigate.”  
“We need to investigate right away,” Togami said.  
“Either way,” Ogami continued, “we can’t run away from the situation, so we have no choice but to move forward.” With that everyone’s expressions turned to determination to investigate what happened. Some people quickly went over the new rules in our handbook, but Monokuma’s explanation was clear enough for me.  
“The first thing we need to do now,” said Kirigiri “is secure the crime scene.”  
“You’re thinking of putting someone on guard duty,” Togami realized “so nobody can disturb the area, aren’t you? After all, if the culprit decides to destroy the evidence, we’re pretty much screwed.”  
“We-weren’t you over by yourself?” Fukawa looked to be back to normal, “You could’ve done whatever you wanted to it.”  
“No, she could not,” I smiled at her, “I have been with her the whole time. If she took anything there is nowhere she could have disposed of it, so it would still be on her.”  
“As long as you’re certain,” Owada said, “I can watch it. I don’t like having to thing, anyway. I’ll let you guys figure out who killed that chick.”  
“And wh-who is going to watch it with you?” Fukawa stuttered.  
“What?” Owada shouted, “You got a problem with me or somethin’?”  
“Isn’t it obvious?” Togami sneered, “If you were the culprit, what’s the first thing you would do? By volunteering for guard duty, you’re in a position to destroy all the evidence you want.”  
“I can keep an eye on him,” Kuwata volunteered, “but he’s not going to do anything, I trust you.”  
“Thanks man,” Owada smiled, “it’s good to have someone watching your back. You guys just need to solve the case for us, alright?”  
“While we’re all here,” Kirigiri said, “take a look over the Monokuma file, then I’ll explain something I noticed.”  
“What could you possibly know already?” Togami sneered.  
“I’ll tell you after everyone has a chance to look over the file,” she said flatly.  
“Fine,” he pulled up the file and started looking at it, and everyone else did the same.  
“The victim was Aoi Asahina. The time of death is estimated to be around 11:00 p.m. The body was discovered outside the dining hall. There are multiple wounds on her body, slash marks along her arms and throat, with a stab wound in her back.”  
“So?” He continued, “what does this have to do with anything?”  
“It says where the body was discovered,” Kirigiri answered, “not where she died. Based on these injuries, wherever she fell would be covered in blood splatter.”  
“They could’ve cleaned the area,” said Fujisaki.  
“It’s possible,” Kirigiri agreed, “however, if you look at the body there are dark purple spots along her back, because that’s where she was laying on her back when she died. She was definitely moved here from somewhere else.”  
“What does this have to do with us?” Ogami asked.  
“Because if the body was moved,” Maizono hesitated, “that means she was murdered somewhere we wouldn’t find her, like in someone’s room.”  
“Ah,” Ishimaru cheered, “so you want us to give you access to our rooms so you can clear our names? Doesn’t that sound like a good idea?”  
“Yes,” I agreed, “that will quickly lower our number of suspects.” I looked around to see Ogami, Fujisaki, Maizono, Naegi, and Hagakure nodding in agreement.  
“I will not be allowing anyone into my room,” said Togami, “I’m not the killer and I won’t be subjected to that.”  
“If you are not the killer,” I said, “then you should have no fears about us finding anything. You will not even have to let us go in unsupervised, you can keep a close eye on us.”  
“No,” he said harshly, before walking away.  
“Is everyone else fine with us checking?” Kirigiri asked.  
“I would, but I gotta keep an eye on the crime scene,” Owada said.  
“Me too,” said Kuwata, “Oh, we’ve gotta beat Togami there.” With that they raced off to get to their assignment.  
“I-I c-can’t go anywhere near the body,” Fukawa said, “so I can’t.”  
“I’ll stay with her,” Yamada said, “I don’t think I can go back there either.”  
“That is unfortunate,” I said, “however this does make you look suspicious.”  
“I-I know,” Fukawa looked sad that she wouldn’t be able to help. Yamada nodded knowing what it meant.  
“We’re going back to the dorms,” Naegi told Enoshima. She stood up with a blank expression, and started walking towards the dorms. As we walked by the dining hall, everyone averted their gaze from the sight. Togami was examining the area around the body, probably looking for evidence to dispute Kirigiri.  
We walked over to Enoshima’s room first. “Uh, Junko,” Naegi shook her, “we’re at your room.” Without looking at anything in particular, she took out her key and opened the door. She went straight over to her bed and sat down, the same empty look on her face.  
I glanced around the room to see that it had nothing of note. Not only were there no signs of a murder, it was completely undecorated. There were no magazines, or posters anywhere, the room looked completely spartan. “There is nothing of note here,” I gestured everyone away, “so who is willing to have their room searched next?”  
“I should probably check on Junko,” Naegi said.  
“She probably just needs some time to herself,” Hagakure dismissed his concerns.  
“Even so,” Naegi said, “I want to try and help some. I’ll stay for a few minutes, then I’ll rejoin you.” He paused briefly, “Sayaka, take my room key and let them look around.” He handed her his key, before going to try and help Enoshima.  
“He probably won’t be able to do anything,” mused Ishimaru, “but it’s good to know he cares about her.”  
“It’s Makoto,” said Maizono, “He’d do that for anyone, he’s very trusting.” If someone more conniving had said that, I would be very concerned. “Anyways, let’s get this over with.” She walked over and turned the key. She opened the door to reveal Naegi’s room, before leaping back in terror.  
The room was a wreck; blood was splattered all over the place. There was a trail leading from the doorway, over the bookcase, and onto the overturned table, where there were several more splashes, and a small pool. Several larger lines trailed from there to the bathroom door, which was covered in blood. All along the trail there were spots flecked with gold paint, with a gold painted sword laying near the bathroom door. Everything in the room was a mess, everything was pulled out of the drawers, and flung around, and the sheets were entirely removed from the bed.  
“It looks like we’ve found the murder scene,” Kirigiri said. She walked into the room without a second thought. “If anyone wants to look inside, I’m going to look at the back of the door, so get in now.”  
I looked over towards Enoshima’s closed door, “I am going to inform everyone about the murder location, please investigate as best as you can.” I stepped away as quickly as I could, because I needed to think.   
After this everyone is going to assume that Naegi did it, so I need to act as if I know that to be false. The first question I need to answer is how could the murderer received access to his room, and why was Asahina there. The best person to ask about that would be Naegi, so I need to talk to him before anyone else got the chance. As I was walking over towards Enoshima’s room, I saw Maizono looking incredibly pale.  
“Are you alright?” I asked cautiously.  
“I-it just hit me,” Maizono said, “Asahina is dead, and her death was, was,” she broke down crying.  
“It will be alright,” I tried to comfort her, “we will find who did this.”  
“I-I know,” she said, before running into her room.  
Unsure of what just happened, I went to Enoshima’s room.  
“Hello?” Naegi opened the door. I quickly stepped in and shut it behind me before he could tell what was going on outside.  
“I wanted to check for alibis,” I lied, “I know most people will claim they were asleep, but I wanted to check anyways.”  
“Uhh,” he seemed doubtful of my story, “yeah, I went to sleep. Nothing else to say really.”  
“Really?” I asked, “Nothing at all? Surely you must have seen or heard something out of the ordinary?”  
“Chihiro…” whispered Enoshima.  
“What?” I was surprised to hear her say something.  
“Oh, uh well, you see,” Naegi was nervous about something, “I was just telling Junko about how last night Sayaka had come to me worried. Someone had tried to break into her room, so she wanted…” every word up until this point sounded true, but as I knew well, he was about to start lying, “she wanted to see if I had heard anything. I said it was probably nothing, and that our rooms were safe, so she shouldn’t worry. She felt better after that, and went back to her room.”  
“And what time was this?” I asked cautiously.  
“A little while before 9:00, so it’s not really an alibi,” he said.  
“Are you certain that is everything that happened in your room last night?” I said forcefully.  
“Uhh,” he seemed confused, “yes, why?”  
“I came to get your alibi, because the location of the murder has been discovered,” I said flatly, “Aoi Asahina was murdered in the dorm room of Makoto Naegi.”  
“WHAT!” he screamed in surprise, “That’s not possible, sh-I would never do something like that.”  
“I know,” I said forcefully, “so either tell me what happened, or face Monokuma’s punishment.”  
“I-I can’t,” he looked away.  
“Very well then,” I stood up, “I would advise not staying here for very long. People will soon suspect you of murdering a defenseless girl. Staying in here with another will not look very good.”  
“Bu-but,” he looked torn between leaving Enoshima, and protecting someone else, “fine, I’ll go. Junko, try to feel better.” He stood up, and we left the room.  
“Do not worry about her,” I said, “she just needs some time to herself. Now I am off to find Togami and tell him about the location. You had better start investigating, as you are going to be fighting for your life soon.”  
“R-right,” he said, before heading into his room.  
I walked over to the cafeteria entryway to see Owada, Kuwata, and Togami.  
“Have you found anything to prove that this is the scene of the crime?” I asked.  
“No,” he said, “unfortunately I have only found evidence that the body was moved. However, there is something odd that is bothering me.”  
“What is so strange?” I asked.  
“First off, her hands are coated in gold,” he turned her hands to face me, “there isn’t anything here that could cause this.”  
“In the entrance hall for the gym,” I said, “there was a trophy that looked to be a golden sword, do you think that could have done it?  
“Perhaps,” he paused for a moment, “although I would wonder where that is, and why she has so much on her hands.”  
“That would probably have something to do with why it was at the crime scene,” I mused.  
“So you found that,” he said, “I will need to go there next, where is it?”  
“It is in one of the dorm rooms,” I said, “the door should be left open whenever you go down the hall.”  
“Hmph, well for the other thing that was bothering me, most of the wounds are covered in strips of fabric,” he said, “and for the most part they are all from her jacket.” I looked closer for the first time to see that her jacket was torn up, with parts of it being used to cover her wounds. “Obviously the culprit did that to hide the location of the murder, so that whenever they dragged her out here, there would not be a trail of blood leading back there.”  
“That makes sense so far,” I said, “what is so curious then?”  
“The bandage around her neck,” he gestured to a strip of cloth tied tightly around her neck, “the fabric doesn’t match anything she wore.”  
“Do we have any clues to what it originally belonged to?”  
“All I’ve found is that it wasn’t torn off from anything,” his expression soured at that remark, “and it appears to have been some sort of tie, or bow.”  
“Oh my,” I said, “that is quite the implication for us,” I noted our similar neckwear.  
“Yes, well,” his expression lightened, “I must admit that Kirigiri’s ability to figure that out quickly was impressive.”  
“It was very impressive,” I gave a pleasant smile, “you may wish to tell her that yourself.”  
“So how did she find the crime scene?” He sneered, “because I doubt anyone would volunteer to have their room searched if they had anything incriminating in there.”  
“I thought the same thing,” I admitted, “I was considering how I could find out which one of the five people who did not volunteer their rooms for search did it, whenever we opened the door to Naegi’s room and found what we were looking for.”  
“What?” Togami growled, “He would let people search his room, whenever he knew that there was evidence in there?”  
“I know,” I said, “it was very odd. He seemed so sure that the room would be empty, he even gave Maizono his key.”  
“Hmm,” he took my implication in those words, “so do you really think they did it?”  
“It appears so,” I smiled, “now I just need to make them think they are in the clear, and they will reveal themselves.”  
“Fine,” he said, “if you need my help ask, but don’t think this is friendly, I’m just doing what’s in my best interest.”  
“As we all are,” I smiled and left.  
I walked over to Kuwata and Owada.  
“We have found the crime scene,” I said openly.  
“Yeah?” Owada cracked his knuckles, “let me know who did it and I’ll end them right now.”  
“We do not know who did it,” I tried to stop him from charging recklessly, “all we know is where they were killed.”  
“If they were killed in someone’s room doesn’t that mean they killed them?” Kuwata asked.  
“No,” I said, “there are ways into someone’s room without their permission. Do not act recklessly, leave this until the trial.” I tried to force my words into their heads.  
“Fine,” Owada still looked like he wanted to take matters into his own hands, “I’ll wait. Where was it?”  
“Naegi’s room,” I admitted.  
“Naegi?” said Owada in surprise, “nah, couldn’t be him.”  
“I agree in that I do not think Naegi would kill,” I said cautiously, “and I am currently looking into alternate possibilities, but we do need to acknowledge that it might be the case.”  
“I guess so,” Owada said, “but for Junko’s sake, I hope it’s someone else.” Me too, I thought.  
“What is wrong with Kuwata?” I asked.  
“Sorry,” Kuwata said, “I didn’t get much sleep last night, I was busy with… stuff.”  
“I hope whatever it was will be helpful. Farewell, I still have to tell Fukawa and Yamada about this,” I headed down the hall to the gym. Upon opening the doors, I saw Fukawa and Yamada yelling at each other.  
“Y-you don’t know anything about writing,” Fukawa said, “you just take credit for other people’s hard work!”  
“My dōjin take works to the next level,” Yamada snarled, “you’re just mad I’m more popular than you.”  
“Hello there,” I said as pleasantly as possible “what is going on?”  
“H-he wanted to show me his work,” Fukawa spat, “as if it wasn’t some low grade trash.”  
“I just wanted to see what she thought,” Yamada looked nervous, “we do have similar talents after all.”  
“I am the Ultimate Writing Prodigy,” Fukawa claimed, “you’re just lucky they read your fanfics.” She spat the last word as if it tasted like dirt.  
“Fukawa,” I said, “many famous works rely on others, is it really that hard for you to think of his as any different than yours?”  
“I-I guess not,” she said reluctantly.  
“Now Yamada,” I turned to face him, “is this story about something she would understand.”  
“If she read-” he started.  
“No, not if,” I said, “is it currently something she would understand?”  
“No,” he frowned.  
“Then maybe it is not something you should show her.” I said. “Now, maybe you two could share some ideas, and see what you think.” I have no idea if they write anything alike, but if it gets them to stop fighting I don’t care.  
“I-I guess that wouldn’t be too bad,” Fukawa said.  
“I guess,” said Yamada.  
“Well then,” I started, “I will be going now,” I turned to walk out the door.  
“Wait,” Yamada said, “why did you come here?”  
“Oh, I had almost forgotten,” I smiled “we found the scene of the murder, it was in Naegi’s room.” They both looked shocked and horrified at my words. “We do not know if he did it, but we are investigating all possibilities. I just came to let you know, I have a few more things to look into.” I stepped out before they could stop me. Now I just needed to prove who did it.  
I returned to the scene of the crime to see Ogami and Ishimaru standing guard, while Togami and Naegi looked around. “Where did everyone go?” I asked.  
“Kirigiri went to check the trash room, to see if anyone used it,” Ogami said.  
“Hagakure left as soon as Naegi showed up,” Ishimaru said, “and Fujisaki said she was going to see if anyone knew anything.”  
“What about you two?” I asked, “Have you found anything?” I didn’t expect much, but I was hoping for something.  
“We chose to remain here,” Ogami said, “to guard this room.”  
“Other than the blood splatter and sword,” Ishimaru said, “there hasn’t been much that anyone found.”  
I started looking around for anything that should be here. If the fight had been this messy, there should be bloody clothes somewhere. Most of the clothes on the floor had blood splattered on them, but in the same pattern as the path of the fight. The murderer would have had to bandage up her body, and move it to a different location. If they did that, their clothing would be soaked in blood, not splattered like these. I opened a few drawers to see if anything else was there, but they were all completely empty. Failing to find it there, I decided to check the bathroom. I walked over to the door, and tried to open it, but it didn’t budge.  
“Oh, you have to lift up on it,” Naegi said, “it doesn’t fit right.”  
“Alright,” I tried what he said, and it opened up immediately. I turned towards him, “Did anyone else know about this?”  
“Monokuma was the one who told me, other than that I only told…” he paused, “nobody, I uh, didn’t tell anyone.”  
“Makoto,” I said firmly, “if you want to get out of this alive, you are going to have to start being honest with us. So I will ask again, who did you tell?”  
“If I tell you, everyone will suspect her,” he said, “but I know she didn’t do it, she couldn’t have!”   
“You just need to know that whatever you are hiding is making this much harder,” I said, “we have to find our way around you.”  
“I know,” he frowned before looking away.  
I looked into the bathroom to see that it was completely spotless, with no signs that anyone had come in here. I closed the door and returned to the room.  
“Ogami,” I asked, “do you know where this sword came from?”  
“Yesterday I saw Asahina removing it from the trophy case,” Ogami answered, “she claimed it was for defense, but I believe it was to kill Naegi.”  
“Really?” I said in surprise, “I did not take her for the type. She seemed to be very friendly.”  
“She was,” Ogami agreed, “however she was having odd dreams, about terrifying things that she refused to say. All she said was she needed to get out to prove them wrong.”  
“Oh,” I said, “do you have any idea what they were? Or if something could have caused them?”  
“She and I had a sparring match on the first day,” Ogami explained, “she jumped whenever I expected her to duck, so I hit her much harder than I anticipated. I believed to have caused her a concussion, but she thought she was remembering something.”  
“Interesting,” I had not anticipated this, “thank you for helping.”  
“You are welcome,” she answered.  
“Togami,” I said.  
“What,” he returned.  
“Whenever you are done here, I could use your help with something,” I smiled pleasantly.  
“Fine, give me some time to work though,” he sneered. I stepped back and let him look around the room. I remembered that Kirigiri had said she was going to check the back of the door to see if it was bloody, so I turned the door to where I could see it. Most of the door was clean, however the handle itself was covered in blood. I looked out into the hall, and saw some droplets of blood. I followed them as far as I could, but they ended somewhere between Maizono’s and Fukawa’s rooms.  
“So you asked for my help and then left?” demanded a voice from behind me.  
“I did not expect you to finish so soon,” I explained, “I saw a blood trail leaving the room and I wanted to follow it.”  
“Did it go anywhere?” Togami asked.  
“No, it cut off right here,” I pointed to the last spot, “it appears that whoever left it noticed before they got too far, and dried it up.”  
“Unfortunately it doesn’t tell us anything,” Togami said, “this is the way to the furnace, so whoever it was could’ve been going there.”  
“Unfortunate,” I said, “now, as for that help, I need Maizono to leave her room for a while, do you think you could take care of that?”  
“It might help if I had something to keep her occupied,” he suggested.  
“Fukawa and Yamada are in the gym by themselves,” I said, “earlier I caught them fighting. She may find that interesting.”  
“Let’s see just how much she cares,” Togami said slyly, before walking over to her door. I quickly stepped around the corner, and entered my room. I waited about a minute before I went back out to see that they were gone.  
I walked over to her door and tried the knob, but it was locked like I expected. I looked around to see if anyone was watching, before pulling out some tools, and taking a closer look at the lock. The lock was designed so it couldn’t be picked like other locks, however if you applied force at the correct angle, the locking mechanism would shatter, leaving the door permanently unlocked, with no visible evidence it had been tampered with.  
As I took off the first joint of my ring, a tool specifically designed for this kind of lock, I heard a sound.  
Ding Dong, Bing Bong.   
The monitor flicked on to reveal Monokuma holding a glass of wine. “I’m getting tired of waiting, so go to the room with the red doors on the first floor.” The screen flicked off.  
I was just about to prove who did it, but it looks like I’m going to need to use my words to prove it rather than evidence. I left the dorms and went to the red doors. Kirigiri had said there was an elevator on the other side, and I could only wonder where it went.


	4. The First Trial

I opened the doors to reveal a normal looking room with a metal grate along one wall. I was one of the last to arrive, and it looked like I had missed something. Yamada and Fukawa weren’t fighting, but they were both glaring at each other, and pointedly ignoring Naegi.  
“What happened here?” I asked.  
“Uh,” Naegi said, “so Yamada said he hadn’t read Fukawa’s book-”  
“I am world renowned,” Fukawa interrupted, “only someone as d-disgusting as Yamada wouldn’t have read my works.” I decided to not bring up the fact that I had not read it either.  
“And I said that the movie was good,” he continued.  
“Everyone knows that movies are inferior,” Yamada sneered.  
“And then you showed up,” he finished.  
“Oh,” I raised my hand to my mouth in surprise. I had absolutely no idea how to solve this dilemma. Luckily, the elevator doors opened, so we all stepped inside.  
The elevator was loud, and jostled us all around on the long ride down. It seemed to go down forever, stretching time out as we descended. Just as it started to feel like it would never end, there was a ding, and the doors opened.  
We stepped out into a circular room, with a black and white tiled floor, blue walls, and red drapes covering what appeared to be exits. At the far end was a monitor, in front of which was a chair in which Monokuma sat, overlooking a circle of sixteen identical pedestals. I went around until I saw one labeled “Celestia Ludenberg”, which I went and stood in. On my left was Kuwata, and right was Togami. Everyone took their places, and in the one that was supposed to be filled by Asahina, was a small portrait of her, which was crossed out with what appeared to be fake blood.  
“Okay now, it’s time to begin,” Monokuma said, “Your votes will determine the results. If you find the culprit, then they get punished. But if you get it wrong, they graduate, and the rest of you get punished!”  
“The blackened is one of us, right?” Naegi asked nervously.  
“Of course,” Monokuma cheered.  
“Alright then,” Ishimaru said, “everyone, close your eyes, and whoever did it raise your hand.”  
“Don’t be an idiot,” Owada said, “why would they raise their hand?” Ishimaru looked down in embarrassment.  
“Before we begin,” Kirigiri said, “may I ask a question? What’s going on with that picture?” She gestured to the image of Asahina.  
“Well it wouldn’t be fair if they had to miss out just because they were dead,” Monokuma let out a menacing laugh.  
“Yes,” I said, “but what about the other empty seat?” I pointed to the one in front of Monokuma. “There were only fifteen of us to begin with, so why are there sixteen seats?”  
“Oh that,” Monokuma said, “I went back and forth on whether or not I should have a podium, so I had it built with one just in case I decided to participate. I decided that a headmaster shouldn’t interfere with the trial, so have fun without me!”  
“So where do we start?” Ishimaru asked.  
“It would be best if we started by saying what we know for sure,” Kirigiri said.  
“What we know for certain,” Togami said, “is that at some point yesterday Asahina entered Naegi’s room, where she was killed. After that her body was moved to in front of the dining hall, where it was stabbed with a kitchen knife.”  
“Doesn’t that mean Naegi did it?” Hagakure asked.  
“No,” Kirigiri said, “if he did it then he wouldn’t have let us into his room.”  
“But he could just have done that to throw off suspicion,” Hagakure suggested, “because we wouldn’t think to investigate someone who was cooperating!”  
“You are free to think whatever you want,” I told him, “but it would serve us best to not be so hasty with our decisions. After all, should we fail to find the culprit, then we will all die.” Hagakure stopped objecting at my words, realizing the gravity of the situation.  
“So whoever it was,” Fujisaki looked like she was about to cry, “was waiting for Asahina in Naegi’s room, and they killed her.”  
“But why would they have been waiting for her there?” Ishimaru asked, “Did they lure her there for some kind of trap?”  
“No,” Ogami said, “they were probably surprised to see her there.”  
“So why was she there?” Ishimaru asked.  
“It is likely she was planning on killing Naegi,” Ogami said flatly.  
“Wh-what?” stuttered Naegi, “Why would she do that?”  
“Weren’t you close to her?” Owada asked, “You should have more faith in her than that.”  
“She was a fighter,” Ogami replied, “I trust that she would do whatever it takes to survive, even if it meant killing someone. There may be an explanation that may better suit what you’d like to hear.”  
“Why else do you think she did it?” Kirigiri asked, as if none of this were new information to her.  
“The day we arrived Hina and I had a sparring match,” Ogami said with a serious expression, “the last swing I threw collided with her head. After that she said she kept having flashes of horrible things. She wanted to prove they weren’t real.”  
“What kind of things did she see?” Kirigiri looked like this this was very important, even if it was just a simple as a motive.  
“She would not say,” Ogami said flatly, “all she would say is that she kept imagining the ‘most terrible, awful, most tragic event in human history’. I don’t know what that meant, but the idea seemed to terrify her.” Kirigiri nodded in understanding, although everyone else just appeared lost.  
“So you think she was planning on strangling Naegi?” Yamada asked.  
“No,” said Naegi, “I think she was going to stab me.”  
“With the kitchen knife?” asked Yamada, “It would work if you tried to stab someone.”  
Naegi took a moment to think before saying “She brought the gold katana to kill me, but whoever opened the door dodged it, and killed her.”  
“And what is your evidence?” Yamada asked.  
“Her hands were covered in gold paint from the katana,” Naegi explained, “and there is a slash inside the doorway, like someone swung a sword, not at all like a kitchen knife would leave.”  
“Hmm,” Hagakure said, “then why was the kitchen knife in your room? Did you hide it there to kill someone later?”  
“What? No.” Naegi protested, “I don’t know how that got in there, or who the real killer is.”  
“Do not focus too much on Makoto,” I said, “there are still more unanswered questions.”  
“Like what?” Hagakure asked skeptically.  
“If the killer had been planning on killing someone, they would have been prepared as soon as they opened the door,” I told him, “but there are clear indications that they fought all over the room. Someone searched Naegi’s room looking for something, we need to find out what it was, and why they would be looking for it, and we may find more clues.”  
“But I don’t have anything worth taking,” Naegi said, “and even if I did, nothing was missing.”  
“What if they were not searching your room?” I asked, “What if they were searching someone else’s.”  
“Were you not paying attention,” Togami sneered, “you yourself just said that they were searching Naegi’s room.”  
“Makoto did not spend the night in his room, he was staying somewhere else,” I said.  
“But the rules say you have to spend the night in your dorm,” Fujisaki said, “wouldn’t he have been punished?”  
“The rules say we can’t sleep anywhere except the dorms,” Kuwata said, “they don’t mean we have to sleep in our own dorm.”  
“Nice job remembering that,” Owada said, “I had totally forgotten.”  
“I end up sleeping in class a lot,” Kuwata explained, “I had to make sure I knew that one.”  
“Anyways, what makes you say that?” Togami asked, “Why would he sleep somewhere else?”  
I knew that Maizono had switched rooms with Naegi in order to kill someone. Her actions today had proved as much. However, if I was to convince everyone here I would need evidence that simply did not exist. So the only option was to do what I do best.  
“I saw Makoto switch rooms,” I lied. “He left his room and switched with Sayaka.”  
“Why would he do that?” asked Ishimaru “It would serve him no benefit.”  
“I can think of a few,” said Yamada.  
“Because he trusts her,” I said, ignoring Yamada, “and he wants everyone to trust him. She said she was scared someone was going to attack her, and asked to switch rooms.”  
“That’s not what happened,” Naegi shouted, “Sayaka wasn’t in my room.”  
“Really then,” I asked, “then were you the one in your room? Did you kill Asahina?”  
“N-no! I could never-” he protested.  
“Well then, where were you?” I asked, “If you were not in your room, then there must have been someone else in there. I saw you switch rooms, so if you wish to refute me, you should provide some evidence.”  
“I wasn’t there,” Naegi said, “neither was Sayaka.” He just kept repeating those two sentences. I didn’t know what to say to that. If he refused to admit it, there was no lie I could tell that would change that.  
“Are you sure?” Kirigiri asked suddenly.  
“Of course,” Naegi said, “neither of us were in there.”  
“Well what about this,” Kirigiri held up a paper. “I found this in your room, are you saying this wasn’t written by Sayaka? Because it is her signature.”  
The paper was from Naegi’s notepad, and had graphite scratching on it, revealing what words had been written on top of it. It read ‘Come see me in my room. Check the nameplate to make sure you get the right room, okay? Sayaka.’  
“Di-did you write that Sayaka?” he asked.  
“Yes,” Maizono admitted.  
“Why?” he asked.  
“Because she wanted to frame you,” Togami said, “isn’t it obvious, she took advantage of you, and tried to have you take the fall for killing Asahina.”  
“No!” Maizono objected, “I mean I did write that, and I was going to, but I didn’t.”  
“You’re saying you wanted to, but you didn’t?” Hagakure asked, “That doesn’t make sense.”  
“I was planning on killing someone, I brought the knife to the room, and even wrote the note,” Maizono said, “but after I got back from giving the note to them, I found Asahina dead.”  
“And what did you do next?” I pressed her on the question.  
“I-I tried to help her,” she said, “I tried to stop the bleeding, but she was already dead. I realized Makoto would be blamed, so I moved her body out in front of the dining hall.”  
“If you were trying to stop us from suspecting Naegi,” Kirigiri asked, “then why did you open his dorm room?”  
“I-I forgot we switched,” she admitted, “I thought that the crime scene was in my room, a-and I was preparing an explanation, when I opened the door.”  
“D-didn’t you spend the night in his room?” Ishimaru asked.  
“No,” she said, “I couldn’t stand to go back there, so I spent the night in the dormitory bathrooms.”  
“So we’re back to square one,” Togami said.  
“What other facts can we analyze?” Ishimaru asked.  
“Well we know that she was stabbed in the back,” said Owada.  
“Nah, man,” Kuwata said, “her throat was cut.”  
“H-her throat?” Fukawa stuttered out, “where would you get a dumb idea like that?” Kuwata looked at her with his mouth hanging open.  
“You were the one to suggest it,” I pointed out, “from just a brief look at her body.”  
“I-I did?” she looked surprised, before looking embarrassed, “I must’ve forgotten.”  
“H-how would you forget something like that,” Fujisaki said nervously. Fukawa looked like she was about to faint from everyone staring at her.  
“Does it matter?” asked Kuwata taking attention away from her, “it’s been a hard day, we’re bound to forget stuff.”  
“I believe it does,” I said, “we cannot trust that someone who can say that with as much confidence as she did has never experienced such things before.”  
“Y-you’re one to talk,” she said, “y-you’re the one who’s constantly lying about being friends with everyone!”  
“Celestia would never do something like that!” Ishimaru said.  
“Sh-she told Master everything yesterday,” she said, “I overheard all of it!”  
“Is that really true Togami?” Naegi asked.  
“I regret to say that it is,” I said, “I do not wish to delay the trial any further on something so trivial, but yesterday I told Togami that it is better to think of the group than it is to only worry about yourself. I am not an innately noble person, and it is not in my nature to care about others unless it benefits me.” As much as I hated being caught in a lie, admitting it now keeps me ahead. Besides, if it comes out later, it will be far worse for morale than just mildly upsetting a few people.  
“I demand you apologize this instant!” Ishimaru demanded.  
“I fail to see why I should,” I said, “I simply allowed you to believe what you wanted to. If your trust was misplaced, then it is not my fault you did not look any further than the surface.”  
“We’re getting off track,” Kirigiri said, “think whatever you want about Celestia, we have a murder to solve.”  
“Fukawa,” Naegi said, “why do you know what injuries killed Asahina?”  
“B-bu-but,” Fukawa stuttered.  
“Do not attempt to deflect this question again,” I said, “if you want to prove your innocence, you are going to need to answer this.”  
“Common guys, she couldn’t have done it,” Kuwata said.  
“And why is that?” Togami asked.  
“Because she has an alibi,” Kuwata said, “do you want to tell them?” Fukawa stayed silent, looking down. “Okay, I’ll say it. She joined by band.”  
“Really?” Hagakure said, “You joined a band?”  
“I-I don’t want to talk about it,” she said.  
“How do we know they aren’t just covering for each other?” Owada said, “One of them could have been an accomplice.”  
“I-is that even allowed?” asked Yamada.  
“Yep,” Monokuma said, “each murder is allowed one accomplice. But the accomplice doesn’t become a blackened, so they get no benefit.”  
“Is there an accomplice in this case?” asked Hagakure.  
“As if I’d just tell you that, if you wanna know, then you’re gonna have to find out for yourself,” Monokuma said.  
“So,” Yamada said, “how can we know for certain that Kuwata and Fukawa weren’t working together on this?”  
“If they were together in a band,” Togami said, “they should be able to give us a small preview.”  
“You think sample number 5 would work?” Kuwata said.  
“Uh, uh,” Fukawa stuttered, before suddenly “ACHOO! Heya, sorry, what’s going on, I kinda spaced out there.”  
“You were going to prove that you could not have killed Asahina,” I said.  
“Obviously L-on and I were in band practice,” she let out a laugh.  
“Yeah,” Kuwata said, “and we were about to give them some of sample number 5.”  
“Sample number 5!” she said, “That’s the best one!” The two of them then proceeded to release high pitched wailing, that was supposed to resemble music of some form or another. It was terrible, but they were definitely staying together, proving they had practiced.  
“Right on!” Kuwata said, “The acoustics in here are great, hey Monokuma, can we practice in here?”  
“Nope,” Monokuma said, “This room is reserved for trials only, no band practice allowed.”  
“Aww,” Kuwata said.  
“We will allow that as evidence of your practice,” I said, “now let us look into other questions.”  
“Was anyone out last night who saw anything?” Yamada asked.  
“No,” Ishimaru said, “we all agreed to stay indoors at night so that is not possible.”  
“Dude, it’s obvious that at least some of us broke that rule,” Kuwata said, “I left my room a couple times,” he paused, “I even saw Fujisaki trying to speak with Enoshima about half an hour after the nighttime announcement. Wait,” Kuwata suddenly shifted, “Maizono tried to kill me!”  
“How do you know it was you she was leading into a trap?” asked Ogami.  
“When I got back to my room this morning, I saw her letter,” he said, “if I had been there, I might’ve been the one who died! So is that it Maizono?” Kuwata asked, “You were planning on killing me, but managed to get Asahina instead.”  
“N-no, it’s not true,” she protested, “I didn’t kill her.”  
“There may be one more person who we could ask,” I said.  
“Who else would know,” Kuwata asked.  
“Whoever was looking for something in Sayaka’s room,” I said.  
“Weren’t they searching Naegi’s room though?” Hagakure asked.  
“They thought they were searching Sayaka’s room,” Kirigiri said, “but they were actually in Naegi’s.”  
“Oh,” Hagakure said, “but what would they be looking for in Maizono’s room?”  
“That is what we were just getting to,” Togami said, “don’t just blather on unless you actually have something important to say.” Hagakure looked dejected, but there is no way I’m going to stop him from feeling like that.  
“So,” Owada said, “who broke into Naegi’s, er, well Maizono’s room?”  
“They will not speak up,” Ogami said, “they do not wish to be suspected so they will not admit it.”  
“Yes,” Kirigiri agreed, “the better question to ask is ‘what did they take’?” Everyone looked to Maizono.  
“I-I don’t know,” she said, “I’m not missing anything.”  
“Of course not,” I agreed, “they would not have found anything, because they were searching the wrong room. What do you have that someone would desire so much that they would sneak into your room?”  
I ignored Yamada’s comment and kept my focus on Maizono.  
“I-I don’t know,” she said.  
“They appear to have looked through the drawers first,” Togami turned to Naegi, “so whatever it was wasn’t something they expected to be hidden. Perhaps Naegi saw it.”  
“How do you know they started with the drawers?” Fujisaki asked, “They searched through everything.”  
“The bedsheets were on top of his clothing,” Togami sighed, “if they had started with the bed then it would be on the bottom. Like I said before Naegi, did you see anything?”  
“I didn’t go look through her drawers or anything,” Naegi started.  
“Are you sure you didn’t go looking?” Yamada asked with a smirk.   
“I only saw what she had left out,” Naegi said, “the only thing different from mine would be that her motive DVD was in the trashcan, but if I still had mine I would’ve done the same.”  
“Kirigiri didn’t you have it last?” Ishimaru asked.  
“No, I never saw Sayaka’s,” she answered flatly, “the only ones I didn’t see were hers and Enoshima’s. It doesn’t matter because I got everything I needed from the others.”  
“Wh-where are they now?” asked Fukawa.  
“Would you like yours returned?” I asked, “because I would be all too happy to never see that accursed disk again.”  
“No,” she said, “b-but if it’s important, we may need to know who has them.”  
“I gave them to Fujisaki whenever I finished with them,” Kirigiri answered.  
“That’s a relief,” Owada said, “we know she’d never harm anyone.”  
“Do we now?” I asked him. “We all have our secrets to protect, and Asahina was the first to attack whoever was in the room.”  
“Hey I thought we were trying to prove Maizono did it!” Owada objected.  
“No, we are trying to find the killer,” I said, “at this point we know that the only people who had access to Makoto’s room were Sayaka and whoever went searching.”  
“Well I still think it was Maizono,” Owada said, “after all, she admitted to planning to murder Leon.”  
“Y-yes,” she conceded, “I-I wrote the letter, and switched the nameplates. I even brought a knife from the kitchen to kill him with, but I didn’t kill Asahina.”  
“Why would you do that?” Naegi asked, “What could make you try to kill another person?”  
“I-I have to get out,” Maizono screamed, “I have to know what happened to them!”  
“What happened to who?” Naegi asked her.  
“My friends!” she didn’t let up, “I need to know what Monokuma did to them!” She grabbed her head and knelt down behind her podium. She had looked to be on the verge of tears before, but now she appeared to have started crying.  
“So she did it?” Hagakure asked, “So do we like vote or something?”  
“No, she didn’t,” Naegi said.  
“She did admit to framing you,” I needed to see what he thought, “and yet you still believe she would not kill anyone?”  
“I,” he paused to think, “I don’t know if she could kill someone, but she didn’t kill Asahina.” I looked encouragingly at Kirigiri, trying to have her say some encouraging words. When she didn’t, I took over.  
“Good,” I said, and Naegi looked shocked at my words, “I needed to know that you are not so easily lead. We still have too many questions to say who did it for certain, and I wanted to make sure you could focus on what is important. With that out of the way, are you certain that the only thing you saw was the DVD?”  
“Yes,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t something else.”  
“Well Fujisaki?” Kirigiri asked, “Did you sneak into Sayaka’s room?”  
“N-no,” she said, “I never left my room last night.” Fujisaki was clearly lying, but there was no way I could convince everyone that I saw her.  
“No that’s wrong!” Naegi shouted. His words were like a bullet, they almost shattered Fujisaki’s words as they left her mouth.  
“Why would you say that?” Owada asked “If Chihiro says she didn’t then she didn’t, end of story.”  
“Don’t you remember what Kuwata said earlier?” Naegi said, “He saw Fujisaki trying to speak with Junko after nighttime. She was probably trying to get her DVD. Which is exactly what she was looking for in Sayaka’s room.”  
“It was right after nighttime fell,” Kuwata said nervously “you can barely say it’s any different.”  
I tried to think of a way to push him, a way to show that she did sneak into the room, but I couldn’t. He was blinded by faith in his friend, and wouldn’t listen to reason.  
“Well?” Owada asked, “What’s next?”  
“Why are you asking me that?” I asked confused.  
“You’ve been asking all the questions,” he said, “so what’s next?”  
I realized then that I had stepped forward to lead the discussion. I hadn’t intended to, but I wanted to know the answers, so I asked. “I asked my questions,” I said, trying to step back, “what are yours?” Everyone looked around, unsure of what was left to ask.  
“We might try to look at the fight,” Naegi suggested, “and who could have fought off Asahina.”  
“Yeah,” Owada said, “but do you really think Chihiro could fight off Asahina? Asahina was twice her size.”  
“There are few here who could kill Hina in a fight,” Ogami said, “Myself, and Owada. However, it appears this fight was won more through luck than skill.”  
“What makes you say that?” I ask having no experience in such things.  
“Most of the hits on Asahina were minor,” Kirigiri took over, “like the person who was attacking was just swinging wildly. Based on the blood patterns, it looks like no one was hit until they got over to the table, likely where Sayaka had placed the kitchen knife. The slashes on Asahina also look like they were swung upwards, meaning that the victor was shorter than her.” Owada stayed silent, from the look on his face he knew what she meant, but couldn’t disagree with her.  
“Is there anything else we can ask?” Naegi asked, trying to find a new topic.  
“Did any of you think to check?” Kirigiri asked.  
“Nope,” Fukawa said “what should I have checked?”  
“The door handles,” Kirigiri finished, “the water is turned off at night so they couldn’t have washed their hands off.”  
“So the culprit’s door handle would still have blood on it,” Naegi realized.  
“Yes,” Kirigiri said, “and the only one with blood on it was Fujisaki’s.”  
We all turned to Fujisaki waiting for her explanation, but none came.  
“I don’t think whoever broke into Naegi’s room was looking for the motive DVD,” Hagakure was refusing to accept the facts, and trying to change the subject. “I mean; why would she want it anyways? They won’t matter to anyone who didn’t know the people on the tapes.”  
“I was using the computers in the A/V room,” Fujisaki said, “to try and cut the footage down to just the opening, you know the happy part. I thought if we all saw just the parts with our loved ones, we would feel better.”  
“That sounds like a great idea,” Ishimaru cheered, “we can work on that later.” Fujisaki looked to cheer up slightly at that statement, before starting to look even worse.  
“See it couldn’t have been Chihiro,” Owada said, “she just wants to help us get along.” Kuwata, Yamada, Ishimaru, and Hagakure all cheered their agreement.  
“I am not saying who it could or could not have been,” I said, “however it is clear that Fujisaki was the one to enter Makoto’s room.” Naegi, Kirigiri, Togami, Fukawa, and Ogami all nodded in agreement.  
“Aww,” Monokuma spoke up, “the group is all split up. I had this whole thing planned too, but didn’t get around to implementing it. Would’ve been so cool too. It had floating platforms and everything. Looks like you’ll have to decide this all for yourselves.” I really didn’t want to know just what this monsters’ idea of “cool” is.  
“Let’s try looking at this from the beginning,” Naegi said, “yesterday after receiving the motives, Sayaka planned out how to kill Kuwata. First she switched rooms with me, and wrote a letter to get him to show up, but Kuwata wasn’t in his room, so he didn’t get it until this morning. What Sayaka didn’t know, is that as she was doing this, the culprit was sneaking in behind her. The culprit was in a hurry, so they didn’t realize that they were looking in the wrong room. Suddenly the doorbell rang, they were expecting Sayaka, but it was Asahina, who took a swing at around where my head would be. Since the culprit is shorter than me, it missed. The culprit then got ahold of Sayaka’s knife, and after a brief fight, killed Asahina. The culprit then left the scene, and whenever Sayaka returned to see the body. Panicking she moved it to the hallway. It could only have been you Chihiro Fujisaki!”  
“I-I” Fujisaki stuttered.  
“Come on man,” Owada said, “she couldn’t kill anyone!” Naegi’s argument looked like it had failed to convince him.  
“Monokuma,” I said, on my last idea of how to solve this, “are we required to stay at our podium, or can we move around?”  
“No, walk around as you like,” he said, “you’ll just be voting from where you are.”  
“Thank you,” I stood up from my podium and walked over to Enoshima.”  
“Junko,” I said, “do you have any questions?”  
She didn’t move from her position, tightly gripping the podium.  
“She’s not feeling well,” Naegi said, “we probably shouldn’t bother her.”  
“Surely there must have been something she saw, maybe you could try?” I suggested. I didn’t think this would work, but it was better than just asking more questions that we already knew the answers to.  
“Fine,” he walked over to me and started speaking, “Junko, it’s me, Makoto, your friend. I need your help; can you do that?”  
She finally looked up, but she looked confused, “My name’s not-” she looked back down and seemed to realize where she was. “So this is a trial?” She still looked confused, but she was aware for the first time since she had attacked Monokuma.  
“Oh good,” Togami sneered, “you’re finally awake.”  
“I’m sorry,” she gave him a harsh glare, “I’ve just had a very hard day. First I saw Chihiro kill Hina, and then my very own-”  
“Wait, what did you just say?” Naegi asked, “You saw Fujisaki kill Asahina?”  
Junko looked panicked, but she quickly regained her composure, “I mean, I didn’t see the killing, but I saw Sayaka leave Makoto’s room, and Chihiro snuck in behind her. A minute or so later I saw Hina ring the doorbell, and try to kill Chihiro. She charged into the room, but the door closed before I could see anything else. After that Chihiro left covered in blood. So yeah, Chihiro killed Hina.”  
“Did you really do it?” asked Owada in disbelief, “Did you really kill her?”  
“She attacked me,” Fujisaki tried to hide it, but she started crying, “I somehow grabbed a knife and fought back. I-I didn’t know what was happening until she was dead!”  
“Why did you try to hide it?” Kirigiri asked.  
“I-I panicked,” she said, “and after that, I was the only one who could check on everyone’s families, I had to know they were safe.”  
“Looks like you’ve reached your verdict!” Monokuma cheered, “Then are we ready to cast our votes?”  
“Just a minute,” Owada screamed, “She didn’t mean to do it, and it was in self-defense!”  
“Oh was it now?” Monokuma asked, “Well it doesn’t matter, murder, is still murder. Doesn’t matter if it was in self-defense, or premeditated. If she,” Monokuma let out a little laugh at that, “didn’t mean to do it, then she wouldn’t have done it.”  
“That’s not fair!” screamed Ishimaru.  
“Fair?” Monokuma laughed, “nothing is fair. Some people are born into wealth, others are born poor. Some people are born Ultimates, others can’t do anything without help. It may not be fair, but it’s true. Now cast your votes. Just remember, if you vote wrong, then the blackened goes free, and the rest of you face punishment.”  
A screen popped up on the podium, revealing a display of all fifteen of us. I simply had to pull the lever underneath Fujisaki, and it would be done. I considered the value of intention, but ultimately decided that if it came down to her life or mine, I would choose mine every time. I pulled her lever, and waited.  
The screen behind Monokuma shifted to show an image that looked like a slot machine. The three panels spun until they all stopped showing Chihiro Fujisaki’s face.  
Monokuma glared at us, “So four of you voted to let her live. Too bad, if a few more had I could’ve punished the rest of you,” we all paled a little, and Enoshima’s face turned a ghostly white.  
“Y-you shouldn’t have done that,” Fujisaki said.  
“Huh?” Naegi asked.  
“You all should have voted for me,” she continued.  
“No way, it’s not your fault!” Owada screamed.  
“Yes, it is,” she said, “I-I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if it had been my fault the rest of you died.” She started bawling, “I-I’ve been terrified of myself since last night. I-I don’t deserve to live.”  
“Do not say that,” I said, “you made a mistake, that is all.”  
“B-but,” she stuttered.  
“No,” I stopped her, “do not feel sorry for what you did. She attacked, and you defended yourself.”  
“Yes,” Ogami said, “Hina would’ve been proud of you for defeating her in battle.”  
“But it wasn’t a battle,” Fujisaki said, “I just got lucky.”  
“You saw the scars on the walls, and the many wounds on her body,” Ogami said, “be proud that you put up a fight. Not many would be able to face her onslaught, you did well.”  
“I-I,” Fujisaki stuttered.  
“We will miss you, thank you for trying, but we will have to face everything on our own now.” I tried to think of what someone as insecure as her would like to hear, “Be proud of what you did, because no one else can claim to have done as much.”  
She looked around, to see all of our proud smiles, “Okay,” she said, “I will be proud of myself.”  
“Well then,” Monokuma said, “I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Chihiro Fujisaki, the Ultimate Programmer! Let’s give it everything we’ve got! It’s PUNISHMENT TIME!”  
“Goodbye everyone,” Fujisaki gave her last words.  
A large red button appeared before Monokuma, which he hit with a toy mallet. The monitor changed to reveal a 2-D image of Fujisaki, before an image of Monokuma walked up and dragged it away, as the same happened to the real Fujisaki.   
She reappeared on the monitor, except the image was pixilated to the extent that it appeared to be an 8-bit videogame. Ahead of Fujisaki appeared a shorter version of Monokuma. She walked forward and barely managed to jump over it. Beyond that was a small gap, followed by a green pipe that was over twice her height. Fujisaki turned to try and go back, only to see more Monokumas swarming behind her. She tried to squeeze through them, only to be pushed backwards. She tried to fight back, only to be shoved down the gap, followed by the swarm of Monokumas.  
We turned back towards each other, to see the same shocked expressions on everyone else’s faces. “Puhuhu, wasn’t that fun?” Cheered Monokuma. “Hopefully the other ones will be even better.”  
“O-other ones?” asked Fukawa.  
“Of course,” Monokuma smiled, “this is going to happen every time one of you dies.”  
“No,” said Naegi.  
“What?” asked Monokuma, “Are you refusing to participate? Because if you do, I’ll get to punish you.”  
“No,” Naegi repeated, “no one else is going to die. We will fight you by refusing to play your game.”  
“Really?” smirked Monokuma, “Look around you, do these look like the faces of people who won’t kill? You know that eventually one of them will turn on you, and then we’ll be right back here. After all, three of them have already tried. Too bad I only got to punish him.”  
“No,” Naegi looked less certain now than he had before, “we will stick together, and make it through this.”  
I wanted to stand up and encourage him, anything to get under Monokuma’s… skin. However, I didn’t know what I would do if I tried. I could feel the emotions I’ve spent years trying to control bubbling up, and if I did anything else, I would lose all control. I looked to Maizono, before remembering what she had tried to do, so I turned to Kirigiri. We needed her to step up, and help Naegi lead, but she stayed back. She ignored my silent plea. I turned to Ishimaru, our self-appointed leader. Even if I didn’t have any faith in his abilities, his bravado would be a welcome encouragement, but he was shocked into silence by what he had just seen. I looked around at everyone else, hoping to see a spark of defiance, but in each of their faces I only found defeat.  
“Puhuhu,” Monokuma laughed, “just don’t come crying to me whenever one more of you joins him as the blackened.”  
“Her,” Kirigiri finally spoke up.  
“Huh?” Monokuma asked.   
“You keep referring to Fujisaki as a guy, when she was a girl,” she explained.  
“Oh guy, girl,” Monokuma laughed, “doesn’t really matter now that he’s dead.” Monokuma vanished with a laugh that made me hate him all the more.  
I needed to scream, to vent, to release my anger. I quickly returned to the elevator, seething with rage. I waited for everyone else to return, and let my anger seethe during the long journey back up.  
Kirigiri walked over to me during the ride “Why didn’t you tell me that you saw them switch rooms?”  
“What?” I could feel my rage screaming to get out in the words, but I held a pleasant face.  
“That was important information, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”  
“You know my name,” I said, “you very well know why I did not say.”  
Kirigiri gave me what appeared to be an annoyed look, “What matters is the truth, not whatever lie you may think will help. Try to keep that in mind.”  
She didn’t realize just how much people refused to believe the truth whenever it suited them. If a lie got them to believe the truth, then it was just as relevant to say.  
The elevator returned to the first floor, and I quickly returned to my room, before anyone could try to stop me. I went over to my closet, and moved all of the hanging clothes to the side, before shutting the door behind me. I didn’t know how good the microphones on the cameras were, but I couldn’t let Monokuma see what I was thinking.  
I pulled my right arm back as far as I could in the cramped space, before punching my ring into the wall as hard as I could. “DO! YOU! FEEL! THAT!” I screamed at my ring, as I repeatedly slammed it into the wall. “DO YOU FEEL WHAT YOU ARE! YOU ARE NOTHING! JUST THE REMNANT OF A LONELY LITTLE GIRL WITH NOTHING, AND NO ONE WHO CARED ABOUT HER! YOU DO NOT CONTROL ME! I AM THE ULTIMATE GAMBLER CELESTIA LUDENBERG, AND! YOU! DO! NOT! CONTROL! ME!” I let out my rage and frustration at the one concession I made to her, as it hit the same spot over and over. “If this ring was not as useful in its own right, I would go find the janitor of this place, and throw it into the furnace. Your feeling of sadness, guilt, and despair are not mine. Leave me alone, for you are not wanted, nor needed.”  
I opened the door to leave, before turning around to see just how much of a dent I had made in the wall. The spot I had just been punching was obvious due to the freshly chipped off drywall. What I was not expecting to see, was the ten other nearly identical indents in there. I ran my fingers over each of them, feeling where the separate joints on my ring had made specific marks in the wall. There is no doubt that all of these came from my ring, but I usually only had to face that once per year. Whatever had happened here, was not pleasant. I don’t know how or why I could have made these before, but they were definitely mine. I returned to my bed that night, feeling confused, and unsure of what had happened.


	5. Chapter 2 Day 1

DING DONG

Ishimaru was ringing the doorbell. I wanted to yell at him to go away, but I knew that I had to go. Breakfast would make everyone feel better, it was something familiar, which would be something to hold on to. I opened my door a crack, revealing not Ishimaru, but Enoshima.

"Uhh," she said, "are we going to meet up for breakfast?"

I looked over to the clock to see that it was 6:50. "Yes," I said hurriedly, "please wake up Makoto and Taka as quickly as possible, we should have already been there."

"They're already there," she said, "I was... awake and noticed you weren't with them. I was wondering why."

"I…I overslept is all," I quickly came up with a lie, "I will be there, just give me some time to prepare." I closed the door before she could respond, and started to get ready.

I had not even begun to fix my makeup whenever I heard the morning announcement. I realized I would not make it in time, so I was going to need to do something to make up for it. I looked around until I saw my notepad, and realized what I could do. I finished getting ready, before sitting down and grabbing a pen.

#

"She said that we were still planning on meeting," I heard Enoshima say, "but where could she be?"

I burst through the dining hall doors, making as dramatic of an entrance as I could. "Hello," I declared, "Excuse my tardiness, but there was something I had to take care of." I glanced around to see that everyone else had already arrived. If I hadn't taken my time I could have beat Hagakure, but I wouldn't have had my excuse ready, all that combined had me arriving almost an hour late.

"Celestia," Ishimaru stood to face me, "if you were going to be late, you should have informed Enoshima of that whenever she asked."

"Yeah," she said, "everyone thought I was making it up."

"I am sorry," I bowed slightly to her, "but at the time I was unaware of what an undertaking I had thought of."

"Huh," Owada asked, "did you do something?"

"Yes," I answered, "I drew up some designs on these." I produced twenty-six pieces of paper, on which I had drawn intricate designs. On half of them were wave-like patterns, and on the rest were the patterns often associated with circuits. "I thought we may need a group activity after yesterday's events."

"I-I don't know that I want to do anything with her," Fukawa spat her words at Maizono.

"You don't really mean that," Naegi looked cautiously at her, "do you?"

"I mean," Kuwata scratched the back of his head, "she was planning on-"

"Do not worry," I cut him off before he could say the words and solidify the idea in everyone's mind, "this is an activity that we will all do, but you will not need to interact with anyone you do not desire to." I realized how far away Maizono was, and almost everyone was pointedly ignoring her.

"So," Kirigiri looked over towards me, "what do you want us to do?"

I smiled that she finally seemed to be taking some interest in what everyone else was doing. "Well," I passed out one of each paper to everyone in the room, "I would like each of you to write some final words to Asahina and Fujisaki. You do not need to share them, but with such sudden deaths, it may very well help us all to find some sense of closure."

"I feel no need to say anything to them ever again," Togami said, "if they would resort to murder so easily, then they should not have been here in the first place."

"D-don't talk like that man," Hagakure raised his hands in a silent prayer, "y-you don't want their spirits coming after us.

"You need not participate," I glared at him, "however even though we only knew them for a few days we should respect their memories."

"You don't really believe that nonsense do you?" Togami asked.

"I would not consider them friends no," I admitted, "but that does not mean we should not respect their memories."

"I am not entirely certain of this course of action," Yamada said, "as Asahina was attempting to kill Naegi, and Fujisaki did kill Asahina."

"They made their choices," Ogami said, "but we should respect their memories."

"If you feel like they betrayed you," Naegi said, "you could ask them through the letters."

"Th-they can't give you any answers back though," Fukawa said.

"Even if they don't answer," Kirigiri said, "some people still find a sense of closure just by asking them."

"How do you know that?" Hagakure asked "Are you a medium?"

"No," she said "I have met people who have going through loss, and they've told me that this helps." I made a careful note of that, and meant to ask her about it later.

"Any other objections?" I asked.

"I already ate," Togami said, "so I'll be leaving."

"Don't go just yet," a cheery voice came from nowhere, "I still have an announcement to make." I continued handing out papers, as if I had not just heard Monokuma speak.

"Wh-what kind of announcement?" Yamada asked.

"I just wanted to let you know, that a whole new world has opened up to you!" Monokuma cheered. "I figured it'd get boring if everything stayed the same, so I figured I should give out some rewards every time you win a trial."

"What kind of rewards?" asked Maizono "A way out?"

"If you want to find out," Monokuma said, "you'll have to go looking," and he vanished.

"I'm leaving," Togami declared, leaving his tray on the table.

"But what about the letters?" Naegi asked.

"We cannot force him to do anything," I said, "let him go."

"But what if he finds a clue," Yamada asked, "and doesn't tell us?"

"Well," I sighed, "I will follow him and make certain that he does not hide anything from us." I exited the dining hall first, silently bemoaning my missed breakfast.

#

"You don't have to follow me everywhere," he said as I walked up beside him.

"With the way you have been acting, there are those who feel you may hide evidence," I said.

"I take it a promise of good behavior won't change your mind?" he said.

"You and I both know it would be a lie," I said, "so why bother. Let us just get this search over with."

It didn't take long for us to see that the stairwell next to the gym had been opened, so we went up it. We passed an area that looked to be a pool entrance, complete with the smell of chlorine, a couple of classrooms bound to be as empty as the ones downstairs, until we came to a library.

The library was covered in dust and cobwebs. After briefly looking around we saw a letter setting out on a pedestal. Togami opened the seal before I tore it from his hands.

"Give me that," he demanded.

"I will give you one last chance," I said, "adapt, or die. You cannot continue to act like you have. You will die. Not by my hands, but by someone else's. You do not have to make friends, or other such nonsense, but you are currently isolating yourself. There will be no one to save you if you keep pushing others away."

"You're one to speak after the trial," he said.

"Wha-" I said, "What does the trial have to do with this?"

"You know very well what changed after the trial," he said, "and no amount of group activities will repair it."

"If you have no intention of helping," I said, "then I may as well leave." I turned around, facing the other way.

"And the letter?" he snarled.

Filled with anger at how he was acting, I turned around and tore the papers to shreds right in front of him.

"WHAT?" He almost screamed "Why would you do that?"

"Oh," I said, "was that important? It looked like an old useless letter to me. It is impolite to go looking through other people's mail."

He stormed off, with a look of incomprehensible rage at my actions.

"After all," I whispered, "I said it earlier, no one needs to read a letter to the dead." I looked at the shreds of the letter I had written Asahina, as I pulled the mysterious letter I had hidden back out.

#

I returned to the dining hall, to see everyone divided off into distinct groups with Owada, Ogami, and Hagakure in one, Enoshima, Naegi, and Kuwata in another. Fukawa and Yamada were each on their own, looking like they were unsure of where to be.

"Hey, Celestia," Owada walked over, "thanks for this... it uh, it helped me feel better."

"I am certain it helped everyone else here," I specifically phrased that to leave myself out. "So, everyone," I shouted to gain their attention, "the second floor of the school has been opened, feel free to go explore it."

"A new level?" asked Yamada, "how exciting." He left, followed by Ogami, Hagakure, Owada, and Kuwata.

"You coming Makoto?" Enoshima asked.

"Uhh," he saw me shaking my head no, "I'll meet you up there, I have something to do here."

"Where is Sayaka?" I looked around to see that she was nowhere in sight.

"She left right after you," Naegi said, "she said she was going back to her room."

"Oh," I raised my hand to my mouth, "I was wishing to speak with her. No worries, we shall see her at lunch."

"So what did you want to talk about?" Kirigiri said, cutting straight to the point.

"I was hoping that more people would have realized that," I said, "as it is, well us four will have to do." I produced the letter from one of the pockets I had sewn into my skirt, "While investigating the library, Togami and I found this."

"Did you read it with him?" Naegi asked.

"Yes," I said, "but he stormed off in a rage before we could talk about it."

"Go ahead and read it now," Kirigiri said, "I want to know what it says."

"From Hope's Peak Academy Executive Office," I read, "Throughout the years we have been committed to shaping the youth who will one day shape the world. We have a long, proud history as an institution of higher learning with full governmental support. Our graduates enter society ready to take on active leadership roles in every major job field. However, Hope's Peak Academy must now lower the curtain on its glorious history, for the time being. This decision was not an easy one to make, but serious issues beyond our control have made it necessary. But make no mistake-this is not the end for Hope's Peak Academy. We intend to reopen our doors as soon as the issues forcing our closure have been resolved. That being said, this is the end for now... And I would like to personally and sincerely thank everyone for your help and support over the years. For now, we are awaiting official governmental authorization to formally cease operations..." It was signed from Headmaster Jin K, but I did not feel the need to read off that.

"What?" asked Naegi, "but wouldn't that have been on the news or something?"

"Yes," Kirigiri agreed, "and it probably was."

"It was not," I said, "even without watching the news, we were bound to hear about something like this."

"Yeah," Naegi agreed, "and everyone was talking about the new students online, so it there was no way we wouldn't have heard."

"While that is true," I said, "I do not believe that is what Kirigiri is saying."

"Yes," she took my statement in stride, "this letter has confirmed my suspicions. I can tell you, but you won't like it."

I thought for a moment before saying "At this point we have very little information, whatever you know will be very helpful."

"If it's so bad I may not want to know," Naegi said, "but I can't turn away, I have to know even if I won't like it."

"From what I can tell," Kirigiri said, "approximately one year ago some event occurred, which caused this school to close. We were sealed in here, from what appears to have been our own choice. Somehow, whoever is controlling Monokuma was able to take over, and wiped our memories."

"What?" Naegi asked in shock, "how can you tell?"

"The dust on the back of the door," I whispered.

"What?" Naegi asked.

"The dust on the back of the door," I repeated, before continuing, "you were not there at the time, but whenever Kirigiri first showed up in the entrance hall, she commented about the dust on the back of the door. No one else realized at the time, but it was because the door had been sealed for a year."

"That is correct," Kirigiri agreed, "add in the motive videos having rooms that looked to have been through long periods of war, even though we were all in them a matter of days ago."

"That's not very strong evidence," Naegi said.

"Do you seriously believe that?" I asked Ishimaru, "that you have not seen evidence with your own eyes of that? I occasionally feel the need to release some anger. I will use my ring to damage an easily hidden part of the wall. After," I paused, "after last night I did that to a certain area, and I noticed nearly a dozen different identical marks, all the exact same size and shape of my ring." I turned to Kirigiri "Whatever happened, must have been horrible. I do not easily get that emotional, and if I did, there is no telling how bad the situation was. We may not wish to tell the others, as this is a very concerning development."

"I thought so," she agreed, "if anyone asks feel free to talk about the letter, but unless it's an emergency don't tell anyone about this."

"Then it's agreed, this information doesn't leave this room," I looked to Naegi who nodded. "In fact," I said, "you should go and show this to everyone else," I handed the letter to Naegi, "they will want to know what is on it."

"We should probably look around upstairs," Kirigiri said, "to find anything you may have missed."

"You can go on ahead," I said, "however I found everything I need. I will meet up with you all later." We all went our separate ways at that.

As I stepped out of the dining hall, I noticed something I had missed earlier, the bath house was now open. Curious to see if anyone else had noticed it, I stepped inside.

The room was pretty standard, with several benches, and lockers along the far wall. There were two doors, one which led to a sauna, and the other to a large communal bath. I was considering whether or not I was likely to spend any time in here, whenever I realized something I had missed. There were no security cameras visible in this room. I went through the lockers, checked underneath the benches, and behind anything else I could think may hide one, but there were no cameras in here at all. I realized this room was going to be far more useful than I initially anticipated.

I went around the first floor again to see if anything else had opened up. The nurse's office was still sealed, as was the other stairwell. The storage room was now open, and held various things that may be useful in the future, and some fabric that I would be able to sew into more clothing. At least that problem was solved, but we were still trapped here, and I couldn't allow myself to forget that.

I returned to the dining hall to see if anyone else had returned to talk about what they'd found, but it was empty. I saw the clock approaching noon, so I started fixing myself lunch while waiting on everyone else to arrive. A few minutes later, Naegi and Enoshima came in to join me.

"So," I asked after they sat down, "how did your search go?"

"The pool looks nice," Enoshima said, "but I'm probably not going to use it."

"Yes," I agreed, "pools are not something I generally enjoy either."

"Oh I love pools," she said, "I just don't like using them by myself."

"The locker rooms have some workout equipment," Naegi added, "so I guess some people will work out there."

"You should join me some time," Enoshima said flatly, "I need a good workout partner."

I had to take a moment to understand that statement. "Why not ask Ogami?" I finally managed to say.

"Sakura's emphasis is on building muscle," she continued, "while that would only slow me down. I just need to be able to..." she trailed off before regaining her normal smile "...to carry around all my luggage. It can get pretty heavy, so it's not like super easy to carry around all the time, but I don't really have a choice."

"What about Makoto," I was still trying to parse the shift in her personality, "would he not make a suitable training partner?"

"Uhh," he scratched the back of his head, "the only way into the locker rooms is by scanning your e-handbook, and it'll only open for the correct gender. There is also a machine gun that will shoot anyone who tries to sneak in behind someone else."

"Specifically a M242 Bushmaster, modified to fire rubber bullets," Enoshima said without looking up from her food, "it won't kill you, but it will hurt."

"It uses rubber bullets?" Naegi asked, "how do you know that."

"Isn't it obvious," she said, before readjusting herself, "I mean, like, real bullets are shiny, but those were just black, so they just have to be rubber."

"Monokuma also added a rule that you can't loan out your handbook," Naegi added, "so I couldn't just borrow yours to get in." Good, because I wasn't letting anyone else touch this thing. Kirigiri knowing was annoying enough, but Naegi could barely remember my name as-is.

"Oh," I said, "however I am not one for physical activity, so perhaps you could ask someone else."

"Like who?" she gestured around the dining hall, "no one's seen Sayaka since this morning, Kyoko avoids everyone she can, and Toko is Toko."

"If you insist," I concede, "but Makoto will have to work out with Owada or Taka."

"What? Why?" Naegi asked in confusion.

"While we are trapped here we will need to stay active," I said, "or else we will stagnate. That, and if I am forced to suffer this, so will you."

"Uh, okay," he accepted that he was just going to have to listen to me.

"Wait," I hesitated, "you said Sayaka has not been seen since this morning?"

"Well, yeah," Enoshima said, "after she left from breakfast no one has heard from her. I was expecting to find her here, but no, it's just us."

"Hmm," I thought for a moment, "she is probably just holed up in her room. She did set up a murder after all."

"But she didn't go through with it," Naegi objected.

"I am not certain that makes a difference," I said, "as far as some of our classmates are concerned. She will either die, or start interacting again of her own volition. It is not our job to rush her."

"But, like we should probably go check on her," Enoshima looked to where she would normally be seated.

"I will speak to her later," I said, "but anything she does I will leave up to her."

We spent the rest of our meal discussing workout plans, and finally decided to meet back up after dinner. Kirigiri never showed up, but without Maizono to force her, I doubted she would spend time with anyone else. I bid them farewell and went to speak with Maizono.

#

It took several rings before she answered it.

"H-hello?" she almost whispered.

"Good afternoon Sayaka," I said cheerfully, "we missed you at lunch, so I came to check on you, may I come in?"

"Uh, no," she said, "I-I want to be alone right now."

"Very well then," I smiled, "I hope to see you tomorrow," I hoped that would encourage her to show up, even if it was not very likely. I went back to my room to think about what to do next.

#

I spent the rest of my afternoon in my room, trying to make myself a new outfit. I started working on the designs for a new dress, but nothing seemed to fit. Eventually I looked up to see that it was almost 7:00, so I went off to meet with Kirigiri and Ishimaru for our strategy meeting.

"Hello," I said to Kirigiri as I walked into the dining hall. I looked around for a moment before I asked "Where is Taka?"

"He said that he wasn't feeling well," she said, "so he wasn't going to make it."

"Oh," I said, "I was hoping that you two found something else, was the letter everything?"

"Yes, there wasn't anything to change my theory," she answered.

"Did Togami ask for the letter?" I wanted to know if he would do even that much.

"After everyone finished looking around he did," she gave off no hint of emotion, "I'd already found everything I could, so there was no reason to hide it."

"Did you notice the bath house is opened?" I said nonchalantly, "It may be a better place for meetings in the future."

"Maybe," she seemed to have gotten my hint, "although Ishimaru won't have noticed yet."

"Yes, we will have to tell him about it tomorrow," I said, "unless you have anything else, I need to fix myself dinner, if I do not eat something now Junko's exercises will be far more painful."

"You and Junko are going to start working out?" she asked, showing surprise for the first time.

"Yes," I said, "I tried to refuse, but she insisted. You may join us if you wish."

"No," she said, and offered no further explanation.

I tried to make small talk with Kirigiri over dinner, but she wouldn't say much.

#

I opened the door to the exercise room, to see Enoshima in a track suit.

"Are you sure you want to wear that?" she asked looking at my black dress, "It doesn't look like it breathes very well."

"I was not sure what to expect," I said, "so I just came in what I was wearing." She was a fashion model; how hard could her workouts be?

"Alright then," she said with a smirk, "let's start off today easy, just one thousand push-ups." She instantly dropped to the mat and started at it. I managed to get ten done whenever she jumped up "Done!"

I dropped to the ground, already running out of breath.

"Next, one thousand sit-ups," she started going while I was still trying to catch my breath. I pulled myself up, and went over to the bench so I could sit down.

She smiled "Done already? I just can't keep up with you."

"I am a gambler, not an athlete," I managed to huff out.

"How about this," she said, "there are school swimsuits in the lockers here, we each do as many laps as we can, winner gets to ask the loser one question, which they have to answer honestly."

I thought for a moment before saying "No."

"Scared you'll lose?" she taunted me, but I was not going to give in with the disadvantage I would have.

"Ask your question, and I'll answer it," I said, "but I am not doing it."

"It's no fun if you just give in," she huffed, "why won't you do it?"

"I do not want to say," it was one of my embarrassing secrets, but one I would admit to if pushed.

"You said you'd answer my question," she looked annoyed at my refusal to say anything.

"Is that the question you want me to answer?" I would honestly answer any question, and I didn't want her saying I cheated.

"Yep," she said, "why won't you go swimming with me."

"It is because I cannot swim," I said in embarrassment.

"What?" she looked surprised, even though this was hardly the first thing I'd hidden from her "Why not?"

"My childhood was," I paused, I'd already answered her question, so I didn't owe her any detail, "busy, so I never had any time to learn."

"Well we're fixing that," she went over to the lockers, "I'm going to teach you how to swim."

"You misunderstand me," I held my place, "I have not learned to swim since then, because I have no desire to. It is beneath me."

"What?" she said in shock, "Be glad Hina..." she trailed off as she hit the name of our deceased classmate.

"Based on our exercises today," I stepped in so she wouldn't get trapped in that thought, "I will have to train for a while before I am able to keep up with you."

"It won't take as long as you think," she said, "don't worry, tomorrow I'll have a training regime for you, you'll be keeping pace in no time."

I spent the rest of the time until the nighttime announcement watching her exercise. She is definitely hiding something, and it may turn out to be more threatening than I originally thought.


	6. Chapter 2 Day 2

Ding Dong, Bing Bong

A sound I was all too familiar with woke me.

"Good morning Everyone!" Monokuma's voice blared from the speaker, "It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

I growled as I sat up. As much as I loathed seeing other people early in the morning, hearing Monokuma's voice was worse.

"Where is Ishimaru?" I asked myself. I doubted anything had happened to him, the recent events were too fresh in our minds, but he had forced me to be the first to arrive, so what could have changed that?

I quickly got dressed, and went to the dining hall.

Most everyone else was there before me, even Owada had beaten me there. The only ones missing were Togami and Maizono, which was expected, and Ishimaru, which was odd.

"Have any of you seen Taka?" Naegi asked.

"Knowing him," I tried to hide my anger at the idea I was about to say, "I imagine he is attempting to awaken Togami."

"They should be here soon," Ogami said, "just be patient."

"I do not mind waiting for them," I said, "but there is one problem I do have." Ishimaru was becoming inconsistent, I needed to see if there was anyone else I'd be able to rely on.

"Which is?" Naegi asked.

"I am thirsty," I gave a dramatic sigh, "Yamada, would you be ever so kind as to make me some tea."

"Huh?" He seemed surprised that I would ask him about it.

"Milk tea, if you please," I gave a friendly smile.

"Wh... why me?" he didn't seem to understand why I was asking him.

"You remind me of the owner of the coffee shop I used to frequent," I lied. I was particular about how my tea was made, and I had never found a shop where they would make it properly. I've found that I can tell how well someone will obey me based solely on their ability to make tea. "Please."

"Okay," he said, unsure of how to take my words. He left, and a few minutes later, returned with a teacup in hand. This was a bad sign as it takes twice as long to properly make tea, even without my specifications. "Thank you for waiting," he said.

"Finally," I gave a delightful smile, before taking the cup. I took a sip, and held my face steady as the flavor hit my tongue.

He had used the wrong flavor of tea, the water was not as hot as it should have been, no sugar had been added, and it had not steeped for nearly the amount of time it should have. These were all basic steps of the tea-making process he had failed at. Anyone else would have noticed it instantly. I had much higher standards for tea, requiring milk be included from the start of the brewing process.

"Thank you," I sat the dreadful tea down. As much as I wanted to scream at him for his failures, his inadequacies had shown through. I could never trust him to follow my instructions, no matter what motivations I would give him.

"You c-could've made some for the r-rest of us, you know..." Fukawa said. I looked around at the assembled group, and the only person here who might drink tea on a regular basis was Fukawa.

"I decline!" Yamada said, "you're not my type at all!" Good to know that my opinion of him was only getting lower. "It's all about the law of causality, basic instinct, act and react!"

"Thank you for the tea," I tried to force the conversation somewhere else, "now, perhaps it would be for the best if someone went to check Togami's room, to see if Taka is there."

"I can do it," Hagakure said, "wasn't going to hang around here much longer." He left the room to go see where the others were. A few moments later he returned with Ishimaru in tow.

"Bad news everyone," Ishimaru said, "There is a mystery afoot!"

"Huh?" Kuwata asked, "What happened?"

"He was standing outside Togami's room," Hagakure said, "just pushing the doorbell. Togami never answered, so he didn't spend the night in his room."

"We should separate into groups," Ishimaru said, "and search the building top to bottom."

"We can only go the the second floor," Owada said.

"Good," Ishimaru seemed to miss the point of his words, "you and Yamada start up there, Hagakure and I will return to the dorms to check there. Enoshima and Kirigiri search the classrooms. Celestia and Naegi go to the library and classrooms upstairs. Ogami, Fukawa, and Kuwata check the gym. Break." He took Hagakure, and went back to the dorms. Everyone else shrugged and went to where they were assigned.

"Are you ready to go Celeste?" Naegi asked.

"I presume so," I started walking over to the sink to dump out the rest of Yamada's tea.

"You're just going to dump that out?" he asked, "after all the trouble he put into making it?"

"Here," I held the cup to him, "try it."

He took a sip, his disgust showing on his face, "It..."

"It tastes foul," I finished. "I had him make me tea, to see how well I could trust him. As he showed in how he presented this tea, I cannot trust him with even the simplest of tasks."

"Just because he can't make tea..." he started.

"It is not 'just because he cannot make tea'," I interrupted him, "it is how he presented  it. I have learned that assigning a person a task they are not generally prepared to undertake will teach you much about their character. For example, Yamada never asked how to make tea, he just ran into the kitchen. This shows that he will not take advice no matter how ill-suited he is for the task. When he returned, he presented it as if it were the best cup of tea ever made, when, as you just admitted, it was disgusting. It will be for the best if I stay as far away from him as possible."

"You can't judge someone solely based on their ability to make tea," he said, "people can surprise you if you just give them a chance."

"That was me giving him a chance," I said, "however, if you think it will be that helpful, perhaps I could let him try to convince me in other ways."

"Uh, thanks," he said, surprised I was ceding the point to him, "now we were supposed to head to..." he trailed off, unsure of where to go.

"The library," I said, "I will have to explain to him later how these groups do not make any sense." We left the cafeteria, and headed towards the staircase.

#

Upon entering the library we found exactly what I had expected.

"Togami," I said, "Taka is looking for you."

"So he still trusts you," he said without looking up from his book.

"Uh," Naegi said, "I don't know what you mean by that, he kinda sent everyone off to look for you."

"Everyone?" he asked.

"He had us all split up to go searching for you," I said, "although it was obvious you would be here."

"Did you tell him that?" he asked.

"No," I said, "he left before anyone could disagree with him."

"Hmm," he gave a sly smile, "maybe there is something interesting for me to do after all."

"So are you going to make it to breakfast tomorrow?" Naegi asked.

"Oh I'll do more than that," he said, "for now, it looks like I'm going to have to apologize to, what did you call him again, Taka? Yes, Taka and I will have a long talk soon enough."

"Very well," I said, unsure of what had just caused this change in Togami, "I have some other matters to attend, I must be off." We all split off from each other after that, and I headed back to my room.

#

I eventually took Naegi's advice, and went to meet up with Yamada. I found him in one of the classrooms on the second floor.

"Hello there," I said as I entered the room, "good afternoon Yamada."

"Oh my," he smiled, "Miss Celestia, why have you come to speak to me."

"Well," I could get used to this kind of praise, "after writing my letter this morning, I came to ask for some advice on how you write," I did not particularly care, however I needed everyone here to trust me, and getting them to speak to me would be the first step.

"A-are you sure you wish to speak to someone as lowly as me?" he asked, and I could always appreciate groveling before me, "would Fukawa not be more fitting?"

"She does not seem like the type to share," I said calmly, as I took a seat at a desk, "you seem to enjoy sharing your work in a way she does not."

"Why thank you," he bowed, "but if I'm going to share my knowledge, I need to know something."

"Oh," I said in surprise, "whatever might that be?"

"Do you have any experience with manga or anime?" he asked, showing the first bit of spine since I got here.

"I do not believe so," I said politely. It would be interesting to see how he'd react.

"A-are you sure," he stuttered nervously, unsure of how to react to that, "not even one about gambling?"

I thought back to early in my life, a day I did not like to remember. A little girl, sitting on a bench, with nothing in front of her, while everyone else ate lunch. Random chance, a simple bet, but she had nothing to offer. Someone else offered up something on her behalf, a manga about a silver haired boy she had never seen before. They let her in to their private game, even then still expecting her to lose. But she won. The first bet she ever won. The bet that would go on to ruin her life.

"No," I said with a false smile, "I have never had any experience with any of that."

"Well then," he said, a smile returning to his face, "allow me to educate you."

Yamada spent several hours explaining several of his favorite series to me, in excruciating detail. I had read some of them before, but he didn't say anything about my favorites, and didn't understand my hints at them.

Finally I said, "Thank you for teaching me about this, but I must go, I have to attend lunch."

"Uhh," he said, "you-you're welcome." As I turned to leave he added "and thanks for choosing me as your second, I promise to fulfill the obligations far better than Ishimaru ever did."

I paused. "What do you mean?" I was slightly annoyed at Ishimaru, but I wasn't going to replace him unless something changed.

"Well," he said, "you and the others have been fighting, with Ishimaru spent this entire morning trying to wake up Togami, and let you oversleep, we thought you were trying to replace each other. You have Kirigiri, Enoshima, and Naegi, and he started taking with Togami, Owada, and Ogami."

I realized then what was happening. Why everyone got quiet whenever I entered a room, and what Ishimaru had been doing. I was going to have to put a stop to whatever was going on before it got any worse.

"Do not be ridiculous," I said "we simply thought that Togami would work much better if he stayed with the group. We do not have any sides, nor any official ranks. After the other day, we need to make certain that everyone stays closer, as to avoid any further incidents."

"Oh," he said sounding dejected.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention," I said, trying to cheer him up, "I was unaware of how this looked to everyone on the outside. In the future please let me know if you ever feel anything like this."

"I accept your quest," he said, happy to have a task to complete.

I left him there, trying to figure out how I could solve something like this. First, I would have to talk to Naegi and Enoshima.

#

The only people in the dining hall were Naegi and Enoshima.

"Hello," I said, "have either of you seen anyone else since this morning?"

"I've seen some people here and there," Naegi said, "but they don't stick around very long."

"Yeah," Enoshima said, "and Ishimaru was glaring at me earlier."

"Oh," I said, "it is worse than I thought."

"What is?" Naegi asked.

"Ishimaru's hatred of me has started to affect everyone else," I said.

"Aren't you two like the leaders?" Enoshima said, "you've set up pretty much everything together. Did something change when I wasn't looking."

"Oh," I said, "you were out of it for most of Fujisaki's trial, so I did not realize you were that out of the loop. I admitted to only doing things for my own benefit, rather than out of a legitimate desire to help people."

"And?" Enoshima asked "You're the Queen of Lies, of course you don't care about people."

"That's a little harsh," Naegi said, "just because she was trying to save herself, doesn't mean she doesn't care about people."

"Honestly Junko is absolutely correct," I said, "I do not care about people. If left to my own devices then I would not have done anything during these past few days. Sayaka managed to convince me that the best way out of here was to work together, so I have kept with that approach, even though she has forsaken it."

"I don't think that's it," Naegi said, "if you didn't care, you wouldn't be meeting up with us for lunch, or exercise with Junko."

"Believe what you will," I said, "but I'm not nearly the person you think I am."

"Makoto only sees the best in everyone," Enoshima said, "some days I could swear that he could talk Monokuma into letting us go."

"You think too highly of me," he said.

"No," she said, the look on her face turning serious, "you do so much good for this world just by staying positive," She seemed to realize what she just said and switched to a bright smile, "so keep smiling, we'll make it through this."

"I would not go that far," I said, "but yes, Makoto, you are a bright spot in this darkness."

"Thanks," he said, "I guess."

"So who all is mad at us?" Enoshima asked, "I want to be make sure I don't make them too mad."

"Ishimaru for certain," I said, "it appears that he is trying to get Togami to join his side, and based on our earlier conversation he will. Fukawa will follow Togami, but I would not take anything she says to heart. Kuwata and Ogami have yet to take sides. Yamada is willing to join us, however I hope this does not come to that point."

"What about Hiro and Mondo?" Enoshima asked.

"Ishimaru wants Owada to join his side, but he will likely remain neutral unless something changes. As for Hagakure, if he offered to start helping us then I would tell him to go away," I said. "He will hinder whichever side he joins more than he will help them."

"He's not that bad," Naegi said.

"He very well is, but based on this morning he is more likely to follow Ishimaru," I said. "Let us eat, and worry about this later. I will go speak to Ishimaru later, to make certain to sort this all out."

Naegi and Enoshima agreed, and the rest of our lunch passed without any major discussions.

#

I spent some time looking around for Kirigiri because I needed to talk to her about what Hifumi said. Wherever she was, I could not find her. Eventually I ran into the exact opposite of the person I was looking for.

"Ha," Hagakure murmured, "finally met that quota. Oh, hey Celestia," he switched to a happier voice when he saw me, "need anything?"

"You would not happen to know where Kirigiri is by any chance?" I asked. He wouldn't, but I could always berate his failure, which would make me feel better.

"No," he said, but before I could berate him he continued, "but I might be able to find her."

"And how pray tell," I said, "might you do that."

"With this," he pulled out a crystal ball. "With this, I can see into the future."

"Is your record not only thirty percent accuracy?" I asked.

"Well yeah," he said, "but I just got this before I came here. It's said whoever holds this ball controls the future. Its been held by a bunch of different guys over the centuries, each setting the course of history. Best of all, it's completely unbreakable. With this, my rate of prediction is bound to be one hundred percent."

"And you intend to use this to find Kirigiri?" I asked.

"For a small fee of ten thousand yen," he said with a smile.

"How about this," I said, "if you can find Kirigiri with that, I will pay you one hundred thousand yen. If not, you will give that to me." I didn't care about the ball, but smashing it would be very satisfying.

"Deal," he said with no hesitation, confident in his abilities. "Crystal ball of ages past, show me the future that will come to pass. I see, a mansion. It looks French. I see you standing on it, and, it's on fire. The flames are starting to burn you, oh good there's a fire...truck." He looked up at me.

"I do believe that is my crystal ball you are holding," I said with a smile.

"Wait, give me another shot!" he said. I waited, wanting to hear what nonsense came out of his mouth next. "Crystal ball of ages past, please, please, show me where Kirigiri was last." He stared into the ball for several minutes, spouting out various attempted incantations, but to no avail, there was nothing remotely as coherent as the first one. Fukawa getting run over by a steamroller, Owada melting into butter, Junko getting impaled by spears, Togami freezing to death on a mountain.

"Here," he said defeated, "can't believe that doesn't work." I was about to smash it, but realized in his current state that would only make him feel better, so I took it back to my room and placed it on a shelf. Maybe I should start a collection of prizes from the other students.

#

In the wake of my admittedly entertaining afternoon with Hagakure, I went to the dining hall, hopeful that Kirigiri had decided to keep up with the dinner meetings if nothing else. Upon entering the dining hall I saw Ishimaru, Togami, and Kirigiri.

"We should wait for Celestia," Kirigiri said.

"She doesn't want to help unless it benefits her," Togami said, "so why should we even let her join?"

"Interesting question," I said, "but I have a more pertinent one, why should we let you join? I only help whenever I find it to my own benefit, however you do not help no matter how useful it may be."

"Byakuya here has decided to change," Ishimaru said, "and we should always encourage our classmates to change for the better."

"If she's here," Togami said, "then I'm leaving."

"Why?" I asked, "do you believe that I am incapable of change?"

"People don't change," he said.

"Aren't you here to change for the better?" Kirigiri asked.

"I'm here because I realized that there's a very good reason for me to be here," he said, "that it will be more fun than if I was to go it alone."

The way he said fun sent a shiver down my spine. "Very well then," I said, "Kirigiri, I have matters I wish to discuss with you, please seek me out whenever you have the time. Taka, if you find out anything of interest then please let me know, no matter my motives I do wish to help."

"If that's the case," Kirigiri said, "I'll be going to. I don't think either of you found anything?"

"N-no," Ishimaru said, "but if we're going to-"

"We've established everything that we need to know," she said, "for now, Celestia seems to have something important to say, so we'll be on our way." She joined me and we left to find a new meeting place.

#

As soon as we left the dining hall, Kirigiri and I went straight into the bathhouse, where we knew there were no cameras.

"Thank you for taking my side," I said, "but I am not certain it was the right decision."

"Why?" she said, "you're a liar, but you aren't going to do anything to get us all killed. If we give Togami any authority he's just going to try and get us all killed, just to amuse himself."

"You are correct," I said, "however if I were to play the villain, then perhaps everyone would be more willing to unite."

"You're putting too much faith in them," she said.

"I had not come to a final decision on what to do yet," I said, "I was hoping to speak with Ishimaru before Togami got to him, however I was too late. It does not matter now, as it appears that Ishimaru has made his decision. I will attempt to talk him down tomorrow, but I am unsure of how it could help."

"What else did you want to say?" She asked.

"Well," I said, "no matter what happens tomorrow, there is something we will both need to do. If we want everyone to work together, then we will need to try to work with them. We cannot keep isolating ourselves, then acting surprised whenever no one is willing to cooperate."

"So how are you wanting us to play this, Taeko?" She asked.

"You need not reveal any information about yourself if you do not wish to," I said through gritted teeth, "but we will need to make certain that if anyone desires to speak with us, that we will listen."

"Alright," she said, "I can do that. See you at lunch tomorrow Celestia."

"Please, call me Celeste," I wanted people to know I was opening up to them, and Naegi, I mean Makoto was already calling me that. "Also, Junko and I have are scheduled to exercise in a little while, would you care to join us?"

"I have my own time I exercise," she said, "and I doubt you two would be able to keep up with me." She turned to leave, but stopped and said, "see you later, Celeste." Before walking out the door.

#

I changed into a blue tracksuit, and went off to go exercise with Junko.

"So that's what you look like without all of your makeup," she said as soon as I entered, "not actually as surprising as I'd thought. Anyways here's you're training regimen." She handed me a piece of paper outlining what exercises I needed to do, and how often to increase them.

"I do not believe I am capable of completing this," I said, "I could barely do ten push-ups yesterday, and you expect me to do fifty today."

"With how you were dressed yesterday, ten push-ups is impressive," she said, "go ahead and try, you'll be surprised what you can do."

I got down and started doing push-ups. My arms started aching almost instantly, but Junko wouldn't let me give up until I'd done fifty. As soon as she shouted out fifty, I collapsed onto the floor exhausted.

"Now, onto sit-ups," she said, as if I was still able to stand. She stared at me for a while before saying, "Come on, this is the easier part."

"Then why didn't we start with it," I said gasping for air.

"Because then you wouldn't be looking forward to it," she said, "if you look forward to an exercise, and not just the end, you'll actually stick to it."

I groaned, but got into position anyways. This time Junko didn't count for me, she just had me keep going until I stopped.

"See," she stood over my collapsed body, "you just did seventy sit-ups. It's easy if you just keep at it."

"I can't move," I groaned. I tried to move my arm, but it just wouldn't budge.

"I'll help you back to your room," she said, as she picked me up. She tried to make me walk myself, even just a little, but she took so much weight that she essentially carried me back to my room. "Same time tomorrow," she said with a smile, after she laid me on my bed. I was going to have to do everything in my power to try to get out of it, unless I wanted to end every night feeling like this.


End file.
